A scandal involving alleged Irish ticket-touting at the Olympic Games "will be probed by two inquiries," according to Vincent Boland of the FINANCIAL TIMES. The inquiries are expected to start as Olympic Council of Ireland President Patrick Hickey "appears before a Brazilian judge on Tuesday after his arrest in connection with the alleged illegal resale of tickets" for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. The tickets at the center of the alleged touting "were assigned to Ireland’s Olympic delegation." After an emergency meeting in Dublin, the OCI said that it would ask an int'l accounting firm this week to undertake "an independent review of ticketing arrangements" at the Rio Games. It will present the report of this investigation to a judge "who will be asked by the government in the next few days to undertake a separate inquiry into the OCI and its handling of the tickets controversy." The affair has "led to calls for an overhaul of the OCI." The Irish government is "also battling to get on top of the controversy amid a degree of shock" at the way Hickey was arrested last week by police accompanied by TV cameras (FT, 8/22). In Dublin, Conor Lally reported the OCI has appointed a legal firm in Brazil "to represent its interests" there. The council’s exec committee meeting that lasted until the early hours of this morning began on 9:30pm on Sunday "at the offices of solicitors Arthur Cox in Dublin’s south inner city." It was decided that a three-person “crisis management subcommittee” would be appointed to “lead the council’s response to the recent events in Rio.” The group is comprised of OCI exec committee members Sarah Keane of Swim Ireland, Professor Ciaran O’Cathain of Athletics Ireland and Robert Norwood of Snowsports Association of Ireland (IRISH TIMES, 8/22).
PASSPORTS SEIZED: The BBC reported three senior OCI officials, "including one from Northern Ireland, have had their passports, phones and laptops seized in Brazil." RTE and the Irish Times reported the officials include OCI CEO Stephen Martin -- an Olympic Gold Medal winner -- from Bangor, County Down. The two other execs "are reported to be OCI Secretary General Dermot Henihan and Kevin Kilty, Ireland's Olympic chef de mission." Brazilian police are "also reported to be seeking the passports" of FA of Ireland CEO & OCI VP John Delaney, acting OCI President Willie O'Brien and OCI official Linda O'Reilly (BBC, 8/22).
