OCI blames Hickey letter for halting ticket review

The Olympic Council of Ireland has blamed a legal letter from its former president Pat Hickey for its decision to postpone an independent review into the Rio ticketing controversy.

In a statement issued late last night following a meeting of the OCI executive committee, it said the Grant Thornton review will only be completed following the conclusion of criminal proceedings against Mr Hickey in Rio.

“This decision was taken following the receipt of a letter from Mr Hickey’s lawyers this week in which he threatened to make an application to the High Court for an injunction preventing the completion of the review,” the OCI said.

“The executive committee has decided not to incur the very significant additional cost of defending any such legal proceedings,” the statement read.

It also said it will hold an extraordinary general meeting next January to elect a new executive committee.

The council said it is to send a copy of the completed Deloitte report on its corporate governance to its member federations next week in advance of the January EGM.

That report is understood to include a series of criticisms about transparency issues in the OCI and concerns about how it functions and manages alleged conflicts of interest.

It had been speculated that if the Deloitte report were implemented it could see a number of senior number of senior officials removed from their posts including Mr Hickey; acting president Willie O’Brien; honorary secretary Dermot Henihan; and executive board members Ciarán Ó Catháin and Tom Rafter.