Former Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) president Pat Hickey has accused the Oireachtas committee on transport of breaching his constitutional rights by holding inquiries into the Rio 2016 ticket touting controversy.
In a letter to the committee, Mr Hickey confirmed he would not be accepting an invitation to appear before the committee on Thursday to discuss the matter.
The committee is holding a series of meetings this week on the report of Mr Justice Carroll Moran into the controversy in Brazil, which led to Mr Hickey’s arrest a year ago and soon after his resignation as OCI president. Minister for Transport Shane Ross, Mr Hickey’s successor as OCI president Sarah Keane and Sport Ireland chairman Kieran Mulvey are among those attending.
Corrspondence sent by Mr Hickey’s solicitor Giles Kennedy said the hearings were “premature” and “misconceived”.
Mr Kennedy accuses the members of seeking to undermine his client’s entitlement to due process, a fair trial and are denying him the presumption of innocence. The letter also asks the committee to refrain from continuing with its hearings at this time.
Mr Hickey insists he will co-operate fully when the criminal proceedings in Brazil are concluded. However, there is no timeframe for how long this might take.
Earlier, committee chairman Fergus O’Dowd said it was “very concerning” that the OCI was locked into a contract with ticket distributors THG until 2026 after an agreement was reached between the company and Mr Hickey.
The organising committee for the next games, the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, has already withdrawn permission for THG to sell tickets for Ireland for those games, saying it had become aware of allegations that THG was involved in the attempted illegal resale of tickets in Rio.
"The public wants it dealt with fully. They want answers and they want to restore confidence with our athletes," Mr O'Dowd told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
He said the committee would use its powers to the fullest extent to find out what happened.
Fully aware
Mr O’Dowd said he was concerned Mr Justice Carroll Moran had not been made fully aware of the details of the contract until 2026 between THG and the OCI.
He said Mr Hickey had been invited to attend the Oireachtas committee on sport meeting this week, but he understood the former OCI president would not be attending.
A report into the 2016 Rio Olympics ticket touting controversy by Mr Justice Carroll Moran was published yesterday. It strongly criticised the relationship between Mr Hickey and THG, a sports hospitality firm.
Mr Moran found the deals struck between the two prioritised their commercial interests over the athletes, their friends, relatives and supporters when it came to access to tickets.
His successor as OCI president Sarah Keane confirmed Mr Hickey had signed a contract that allowed THG to act as the official OCI ticket agent for the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024 and 2026.
“This obviously presents the council quite a challenge going forward,” Ms Keane said of the contract, adding that the OCI would like to get out of the deal with THG but that she believes it is “pretty watertight”.
Financial element
The agreement was not brought before the executive committee for discussion at the time and members only became aware of it in recent weeks and it is understood there is a significant financial element to the deal.
Mr Justice Moran said Mr Hickey and the owner of THG, Marcus Evans, had a long-standing relationship which served to financially benefit them both.
The report was ordered by Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross after Mr Hickey was arrested and charged with alleged ticket touting and other offences in Brazil almost a year ago. The events prompted his resignation as OCI president after 27 years.
In a statement, Mr Hickey claimed the report cleared him of allegations of criminality and financial impropriety. The former OCI president maintained his innocence and insisted he would be cleared of all wrongdoing.
Mr Hickey, who is back in Ireland but awaiting trial in Brazil, said the inquiry contained a number of significant inaccuracies but he could not detail them at this present time.
He said he had “at all times I acted in the best interests of the Olympic Council of Ireland with a view to maximising revenue” for it. He also said he was confident his name would be cleared and he was looking forward to resume his international Olympic duties.