Probe into lack of detail on Olympic ticket deals

The absence of details around payments to the Olympic Council of Ireland for tickets to the Games bought by agents is expected to be investigated further in the wake of the Rio ticket touting inquiry.

A lack of financial statements and documentation around the exchange of tickets and payments for them for the London 2012 and Rio 2016 games was of “some concern”, according to the Moran report.

The Oireachtas Committee on Sport will today hear from OCI president Sarah Keane on this issue, while Moran’s recommendations on ‘ticket reconciliations’ for the two Games could be referred to auditors for further investigation.

Ms Keane will tell the committee that the council will consider this at its next board meeting.

“It may mean that we look to [auditors] Grant Thornton for further clarification on this matter.”

The Moran report was critical of the absence of a money trail in accounts for ticket arrangements with selling agents. In the report, Judge Moran said: “Despite requests by the inquiry, a financial reconciliation of tickets between the OCI and the ATR [authorised ticket reseller] was not furnished, either for the London Games in 2012 or the Rio Games in 2016.”

Companies THG and Pro10 were awarded the ticket contracts by the OCI for the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games, respectively. The report this week found Pro10 was effectively a front for THG, which itself had been banned from the Rio games.

Commenting on the exchange of tickets between the OCI and the two agents for the two games, Judge Moran said the lack of documentation and detail in accounts was worrying:

“Accordingly, as a result of the aforementioned exchange of tickets and the said payment of premiums, there should have been a balancing amount paid to the OCI. Such payments do not appear in the accounts provided to the inquiry and the absence of any reconciliation statements and supporting documentation is of some concern.”

Ms Keane will also reiterate there had been “significant decisions taken with regard to future ticketing arrangements that were not brought before the OCI board”. These include secret contracts agreed by former OCI president Pat Hickey with agents THG for the Olympic Games up until 2026. These deals only emerged this week. Ms Keane says the OCI’s legal advisors were only recently provided with a copy of two agreements covering the games by lawyers for THG.

Furthermore, the OCI have not seen original copies of these agreements and the council is taking legal advice on “the validity of these documents”.

The committee will also hear from Ministers Shane Ross and Brendan Griffin from the department of transport and sport.

It is understood the department is considering forwarding the Moran report to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement for its consideration.