IOC President Thomas Bach to skip Paralympic Games

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach will not attend any of the Paralympic Games which start in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has announced.

"He is no longer attending at all and we fully understand how difficult it can be to reschedule a busy diary," said Craig Spence, the IPC's Director of media and communications.

The decision comes after Patrick Hickey, president of Ireland's national Olympic committee, was among 10 people charged by Brazilian prosecutors on Tuesday with ticket scalping, conspiracy and ambush marketing in a case that broke during last month's Rio Games.

Police investigator Aloysio Falcao said authorities want to speak with Bach about email exchanges between him and Hickey related to ticket allocations to Ireland.

Falcao said police had planned to "summon" Bach when he came to Rio for Wednesday's opening ceremony of the Paralympics, adding that authorities have no evidence that he knew of the alleged ticket scam.

Bach subsequently cancelled plans to attend the opening ceremony, which will be held on Wednesday and the Games which run from September 7-18.  

The Brazilian newspaper Globo said Bach would be subpoenaed as a witness if he came to Brazil.