Newly-elected Olympic Council of Ireland President Sarah Keane "hopes that the huge sums paid out in the wake of the Rio ticketing controversy will be viewed as an investment in the future," according to Cormac Byrne of the IRISH INDEPENDENT. It was revealed that the "fall out from the arrest" of former OCI President Pat Hickey has cost the OCI "in excess of" €800,000 ($848,000). Keane confirmed that the OCI would "recoup some of the money" through its insurance company but the "scale of the funds used have had a detrimental effect" on the organization. Keane said, "It was huge. Financially it was devastating for the Olympic Council between reports and legal fees. ... There was a lot of things going on but they had to be addressed and as an organization we had to deal with that and I'd like to think that maybe we will see this at some stage later as an investment in the future of the organization." She confirmed that the Grant Thornton investigation is "postponed" pending the conclusion of the legal proceedings in Brazil. She said that a decision was taken at board level that the probe would be "finalised and sealed" and given to Judge Moran, who is carrying out a separate investigation on behalf of Minister for Sport Shane Ross (IRISH INDEPENDENT, 2/13).
