Sports tourism ticket fraud : European Olympic Chief in Rio maximum security prison

Sports tourists that had attended the opening ceremony for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro may have paid up to $8,000 for a ticket that should have cost $1,400. It was a scam. Apparently this scam was not the work of corrupt organizers in Brazil, but the criminal activity may be the work of 71-year-old Patrick Hickey.

Mr. Hickey is not just any criminal, he is a member of the International Olympic Committee, an IOC member, head of the Olympic Council of Ireland, and head of the European Olympic Committees.

He was detained by police in Rio and is currently an inmate at the Bangu maximum security prison in Rio.

The International Olympic Committee leader gave no other details but the 71-year-old Hickey could be formally charged or the judge could order him released.

But for now, he is now in the Bangu maximum security prison in Rio.

The ticket case has come as an embarrassment for the IOC.

Hickey “temporarily” stood down from his official positions after the arrest so the IOC ethics commission has not yet launched an official investigation.

The scandal has been mounting since the arrest on August 5 of Kevin Mallon, the Irish head of the THG hospitality company.

Police said they seized hundreds of tickets from Mallon some of which had the Olympic Council of Ireland name on them.

Hickey denied any involvement with THG before his arrest, and IOC president Thomas Bach said Mr. Hickey should be presumed innocent.

The International Olympic Committee leader Bach gave no other details but the 71-year-old Hickey could be formally charged or the judge could order him released on bail.