Olympic Council of Ireland Appoints Independent Review of Rio Ticketing

26/8/16

The OCI today appointed Grant Thornton to conduct an independent review of its handling of ticketing arrangements for the Rio Olympic Games.

It is intended that the review will be concluded by Monday, 10 October 2016 and it will be given to Judge Carroll Moran to consider as part of his State inquiry deliberations.

The terms of reference of the Grant Thornton review, which will be carried out by the Grant Thornton Forensic Services team, are as follows:

1. To review:

(a) The policies, procedures, processes and practices adopted by The Olympic Council of Ireland (including its subsidiaries and/or agents, hereafter referred to as OCI) governing the receipt, distribution and sale of tickets (and associated revenues) allocated by the IOC/organising committee to OCI for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and.

(b) The policies, procedures, processes and practices, adopted by OCI, governing all accreditations allocated by OCI for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

(c) The implementation of those policies and procedures, and the actual processes (including any procurement process and any contract awarded by OCI, including but not limited to any contract awarded to Pro10 and THG) and practices (including any resale of any tickets as part of hospitality packages), in the case of the accreditations and tickets allocated to OCI for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and associated revenues received by OCI:

(d) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, to review:

(i) the appointment of Pro10 Sports Management as OCI's authorised ticket reseller for Rio 2016;

(ii) the manner in which Pro10 dealt with OCI ticket allocation;

(iii) interactions between Pro10 and THG in relation to OCI’s ticket allocation;

(iv) OCI’s interactions with THG;

(v) the manner in which OCI dealt with any ticket allocation directly to it;

(vi) the manner in which OCI dealt with the local organising committee with reference to ticketing and accreditation; and

(vii) OCI corporate governance issues arising with reference to the matters above.

2. Having reviewed the above matters, to prepare a report setting out the findings and recommendations of the review, which will be given to Judge Carroll Moran.

As part of the Grant Thornton review, submissions will be invited from athletes and their families on their experience of ticketing allocation and availability arrangements for Rio 2016.

The OCI is committed to a review of its wider corporate governance arrangements and will set out its intentions in this area in due course.

Ends

For further information:

Aileen Gaskin: 087 772 4717

Olive Stephens: 085 853 5647

Note for editor

1. In the interests of quickly and independently establishing key facts with regard to OCI ticketing arrangements at the Rio Olympics this review will focus on the Rio Games only. However, a broader review of ticketing arrangements at previous Games may be conducted by the OCI at a later stage, as considered necessary.

2. Grant Thornton:

"Grant Thornton is Ireland’s fastest growing professional services firm with over 1,000 staff in Ireland. Clients choose us because the breadth of financial and business services they need is available, delivered innovatively and always to the highest standards. Grant Thornton is one of the world's leading organisations of independent assurance, tax and advisory firms. Proactive teams, led by approachable partners in these firms, use insights, experience and instinct to understand complex issues for privately owned, publicly listed and public sector clients and help them to find solutions. More than 42,000 Grant Thornton people, across 130 countries, are focused on making a difference to clients, colleagues and the communities in which we live and work. Grant Thornton Forensic Services forms part of the Grant Thornton Advisory team."

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