Rio Olympics: IOC official Pat Hickey has bail application rejected
Friday 19 August 2016 16:30, UK
Ireland’s International Olympic Committee Executive Pat Hickey has been taken to Bangu maximum security prison in Rio after his application for bail was denied by a Brazilian judge.
Hickey - Europe's top Olympic official - was arrested in a dawn raid at his hotel on Wednesday, in connection with the unauthorised resale of Olympic tickets.
The 71-year-old was admitted to Rio's Samaritano hospital for chest pain after his arrest and was released the next day into custody.
Rio police said on Friday that Hickey's legal team had unsuccessfully claimed that the Irishman was being illegally detained and has since been transferred to Bangu prison.
Hickey had temporarily stepped aside from his IOC roles, including sitting on the executive board and heading the European Olympic body.
The Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) said earlier on Friday it would commission an independent investigation into the accusations levelled against its longtime president Hickey.
The OCI also said it would scrap a previously announced internal inquiry, in a complete U-turn only days after saying no independent monitoring of its investigation was needed.
"The OCI confirms that it will co-operate fully with any state inquiry into its handling of ticketing arrangements for the Rio Olympics," it said in a statement.
"The OCI will now also commission its own independent inquiry into the ticketing arrangements for Rio 2016. The previously announced internal inquiry by the OCI has been discontinued."
