The Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) has to date paid out €1.5m to cover the fallout from the Rio ticketing scandal, figures obtained by the Irish Examiner reveal.

A fortnight on from the first ripples of the multimillion-euro Irish Olympics ticket touting claims, two Irishmen are in a Brazilian jail, international arrest warrants are out for a billionaire football club owner, and a Government inquiry has been launched, writes Fiachra Ó Cionnaith

The shock arrest of Pat Hickey yesterday morning has all but ended the 71-year-old’s tenure as president of the Olympic Council of Ireland, which he has led since 1989.

A multi-millionaire British football club owner who is known to keep a deliberately low profile is this morning at the centre of Ireland’s Olympics ticket touting controversy alongside four other directors of one of his lucrative firms.