OCI executive did not appoint ticket reseller, review finds

The executive committee of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) played no role in appointing the council's authorised ticket reseller for the Rio Games, a trawl of the organisation's minutes has indicated.

A study by law firm Arthur Cox of minutes dating to March 2014 "shows the appointment of Pro10 was not brought to the attention of, or approved by, the OCI executive committee".

The committee members were notified of the outcome of the study at the weekend by the three-member crisis committee established after OCI president Pat Hickey was arrested in Rio earlier this month.

Police in Brazil are investigating suspected illegal dealings in the sale of tickets for the Olympics.

One key question arising from the crisis concerns who in the OCI was in control of the ticket-selling regime.

Last week, lawyers for John Delaney, chief executive of the Football Association of Ireland and a vice-president of the OCI, took issue with media reports from Rio that quoted local police as saying they had been told he was part of the OCI's decision-making in relation to tickets for the Rio Games.

At the weekend the Irish Daily Mail published an apology to Mr Delaney.

It said that if he had been asked for a comment before publication of a report on the matter, the sports chief would have said he had “no role whatsoever in any decision-making” regarding the OCI’s ticketing licence for Rio.

It is Mr Delaney’s first public comment on the controversy.

Pro10

Pro10, an Irish business established last year, was the OCI’s authorised ticket reseller for the Rio games.

The international group it normally used, THG, had been refused a licence by the Brazilian authorities to act as a reseller, a year before the games.

Earlier this month, Brazilian police found hundreds of tickets allocated to the OCI in the possession of Kevin Mallon, an Irish executive with THG.

THG has said Mr Mallon was merely acting as a “collection point” for customers of Pro10.

Mr Hickey has said he has not been involved in any wrongdoing, as has THG.