Exclusive: Olympic Council of Ireland President Seeks Talks with Hickey

(ATR) New OCI chief Sarah Keane tells Around the Rings she has received no direct contact from Pat Hickey but hopes to meet him soon.

The chief executive of Swim Ireland was elected to replace Hickey on Feb. 9. Hickey, who had been president since 1989, is recovering from heart surgery following his return to Ireland in December after being arrested on ticket touting charges in Rio during the 2016 Olympics. Hickey denies all charges but faces trial in Brazil.

"I’m willing to sit down with Pat and hear what he has to say," Keane told ATR in an exclusive interview, confirming that she had not heard from him since stepping into his shoes at the OCI.

"He was there for a long time. While I think there are things I want to do differently going forward and things we want to improve on, there were things that were done over the years that were done well," she said.

With only two years’ experience on the Olympic Council of Ireland executive, Keane is eager to learn quickly about the machinations of the Olympic Movement.

She hopes Hickey can pass on useful information on the way the European Olympic Committees and IOC work. "That would be helpful to know."

Since her election 12 days ago, Keane has had a conference call with her newly elected OCI board. Last Friday, the board met for the first time and adopted a voluntary code of governance. It was the first response of the OCI’s new leadership to Deloitte’s independent review of the Olympic committee’s governance.

Under recommendations for reform of the OCI, Keane said the board will consider two-term limits and clearer separation between the strategic and operational sides of the organization. Task forces to review the financial and commercial business of the OCI, plus communications and branding are now at work.

"We are getting on the move," she said.

Despite being a relative newcomer to the Olympic world, Keane dismissed the notion she faced a daunting task to replace Hickey and do the role justice.

"No, I don’t look at it like that," she tells ATR. "I feel privileged. There are a lot of people who believe the OCI have a lot to offer the Olympic Movement. From that perspective, in a positive way, you feel a pressure on your shoulders because you want to do a good job.

"I’ve been in sport a long time. I’m not unused to challenging experiences. There’s a lot worth fighting for."

She said her top priorities are to revamp the organization to make it "fit for purpose", revamping the governance in all areas.

"I do believe strongly in good structures in order to allow an organization to flourish... proper policies and procedures to start to build trust," she said.

Focusing on Irish athletes’ preparations for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics was also on her agenda.

One of her biggest challenges is to address the findings of reports into the Rio ticketing scandal that blackened Hickey’s name and tarnished the OCI’s global reputation.

Earlier this month, Irish media reported that €800,000 ($843,720) had been spent by the OCI on various fees and reports relating to the Rio ticketing scandal, including legal fees to help Hickey, and commissioning reports from Deloitte and Grant Thornton.

An independent OCI investigation and a government report into the scandal that engulfed Hickey are not yet completed. The government inquiry into the Rio ticketing scam won't be completed until the end of March or early April, while the Grant Thornton review is on hold pending the outcome of Hickey’s trial in Brazil.

Keane talks about transparency and accountability – and emphasizes that she will not shirk the responsibility of acting on the reports’ findings.

"We are going to have to deal with whatever comes out, and if some of it’s not good then it’s not good and we’ve just got to be open and address it," she said.

"Fundamentally if you want to build trust you’ve got to show that you are going to address it as best you can. It’s not a particularly nice thing to be dealing with – but it has to be dealt with," Keane added.

"I think that’s the way we approach it, then hopefully we will be able to make the improvements required."

Keane said she expects the OCI to schedule an extraordinary general meeting later this year to approve a raft of reforms.

For PyeongChang 2018, Keane admits the OCI has to review which authorized ticket reseller it uses for the Winter Olympics. The ticketing company THG that was involved in the Rio 2016 ticketing scandal remains as the authorized ticket reseller for Ireland for the time being. At the Rio Games, Hickey and THG’s Kevin Mallon were charged with selling tickets for the purpose of touting, false advertising, fraud, money laundering and tax evasion.

Keane believes she and the new OCI executive will bring "fresh thinking and energy" to help turn around the troubled Irish NOC. She is "excited" about repositioning the OCI to add more value to the Olympic Movement under her stewardship.

"There won’t be any lack of effort," she added.

Reported by Mark Bisson.

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