The head of the European Olympic Committees, Pat Hickey, has been arrested in Rio de Janeiro in connection with an alleged international ticket scalping scam.
Hickey, who is also a member of the International Olympic Committee and president of the Olympic Council of Ireland, was arrested Wednesday by Civil Police at the hotel he was staying at with his wife.
Police say when they went to arrest the 71-year-old, his wife said he wasn’t there. However they later found Hickey in another room.
Hickey’s arrest is part of a police investigation into ticket scalping, with officials also arresting Kevin Mallon, director of the British ticket reselling company THG Sports, on August 5.
During that particular operation, police seized more than 1,000 tickets that were being sold at inflated prices.
Civil Police have also requested arrest warrants for four other THG directors — David Patrick Gilmore, Marcus Paul Bruce Evans, Maarten Van Os and Martin Studd.
More warrants have also be issued for the directors of Pro 10, the authorized reseller for Irish Olympic tickets, said police at a news conference in Rio de Janeiro Wednesday.
It’s not the first time Civil Police in Rio have arrested members of THG. In 2014, company CEO James Sinton was arrested by police in relation to a scalping ring for FIFA World Cup tickets.
It is illegal in Brazil to resell tickets for anything higher than face value.
The Olympic Council of Ireland said in a statement that it was “aware of the media stories regarding Pat Hickey and we are seeking total clarity on the situation before we comment further.”
Who is Pat Hickey?
Hickey is a former judo pro who represented his country in international competitions, becoming Honorary Life President of the Irish Judo Association in 1989.
The European Olympic Committees president has previously been criticized by some for inviting leaders of countries with questionable human rights records to host the European Games — such as Azerbaijan in 2015.
In the lead-up to the Olympics in Brazil, Hickey criticized calls for an outright ban of all Russian athletes competing in Rio, according to the Irish Times.
