IOC Halts Approval for Irish Olympic Ticket Reseller

(ATR) The IOC says it is suspending the approval process to name an authorized ticket reseller for Olympic Council of Ireland for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

While PyeongChang 2018 has awarded the rights to resell tickets in Ireland to the Irish company THG, the IOC grants final approval. Since that initial approval from Korea, THG has become embroiled in the inquiry by Rio police into possible illegal sales of tickets to the Rio Olympics. The inquiry has led to two arrests, including IOC member and Olympic Council of Ireland president Patrick Hickey who is barred from leaving Brazil.

An IOC spokesperson tellsAround the Rings that THG's status is now under review.

"The process for approval of the [reseller] for Ireland, THG, for the Olympic Winter Games 2018 has been suspended," the IOC spokesperson said.

THG executive Kevin Mallon was arrested August 5 in Rio with more than 700 tickets said to to have been allocated to the OCI. THG had been rejected more than a year ago by Rio 2016 as the authorized ticket reseller for Ireland, with another firm, Pro10, winning that designation. THG apparently was flagged by Rio 2016 after issues arose in 2014 with the company's handling of tickets to the World Cup in Brazil.

Requests for further clarification of the process for to be followed by the IOC regarding the selection of THG were not immediately returned. Requests for comment from PyeongChang 2018 about the ticketing process were not returned due to the Thanksgiving holiday in Korea.

Hickey and Mallon deny wrongdoing and are represented by lawyers in Rio de Janeiro.

Authorized ticket resellers are chosen between two and three years before the Olympic Games.

During the selection process, resellers are nominated to the organizing committee. The organizing committee then reviews the company before reporting to the IOC. The IOC then has the final say in approving the reseller.

In a press conference on Sept. 8, Brazilian authorities presented documents alleging that THG acquired Rio 2016 tickets for its hospitality packages through another reseller, Cartan Global. Authorities have released other correspondences that they believe connects THG owner Marcus Evans,THG executive Kevin Mallon and Patrick Hickey in a scalping ring.

Authorities estimated that THG and Hickey could make over $3 million from the marked up tickets. Cartan Global says the tickets were bought legally by THG, but could not account for how the tickets were handled after the sale.

Emails appear to show that the IOC was aware of the issues with THG and working with Hickey to solve them for Rio 2016. Included in the correspondence were possible solutions from the IOC that did not jeopardize THG as a future Olympic ticket reseller.

Emails provided to ATR from Brazilian police showed that in April 2015 Hickey said that Rio 2016 was "willing" to appoint the OCI as the ticket reseller for the 2016 Games. Further, Hickey pushed to allow for the OCI to appoint THG as a "sub agent," to aid with the resell process, bypassing Rio 2016’s denial of the company.

In a 2015 email, IOC legal director Howard Stupp noted the situation was "somewhat out of the ordinary" for an Olympic Games. Stupp concluded that this arrangement would not jeopardize THG as a potential reseller for Tokyo 2020. Included in the correspondence was IOC Executive Director Christophe Dubi and Pere Miro, deputy director general for relations with the Olympic Movement.

Eventually, the newly-formed company Pro10 served as the reseller for the OCI for Rio 2016. A spokesperson for Rio 2016 said the organizing committee could not comment to ATR on specifics so as to not interfere with the ongoing legal matter.

A THG spokesperson told ATR that the company was continuing plans to serve as the reseller for PyeongChang 2018 and for Tokyo 2020 before the IOC suspension. Requests for comment from THG after the IOC suspension for PyeongChang were not returned.

Tokyo 2020 tells ATR that THG is not an authorized ticket reseller for its Games and that the process to name ticket agents has not even begun. THG has toldATR the company plans to sell OCI’s allocated Tokyo 2020 tickets,

"Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee is aware of reports stating that THG Sports is to be an [reseller] for the Olympic Council of Ireland for Tokyo 2020," the spokesperson said. "However, we have not yet started the process of selecting ticket resellers with any National Organizing Committees. Therefore, no ATRs have yet been chosen for the Tokyo 2020 Games at this point."

Besides the IOC review of THG as the authorized ticket reseller for the 2018 Winter Olympics, the OCI has launched an independent review of the way Olympic tickets allocated to Ireland have been sold.

Written by Aaron Bauerin Rio de Janeiro

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