IOC executive arrested, charged with scalping Rio tickets

Rio police have arrested an IOC member for scalping Olympic tickets.

Authorities in Rio de Janeiro arrested an International Olympic Committee executive who is accused of scalping tickets for the Summer Games, reports O Estado de Sao Paulo.

According to the report, 71-year-old Patrick Hickey was arrested at a Rio hotel, became ill after his arrest and was taken to a hospital in Barra.

Brazilian police say Hickey is formally charged with ticket touting, forming a cartel and illicit marketing, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years in jail. 

"The OCI is aware of the media stories regarding Pat Hickey and we are seeking total clarity on the situation before we comment further," The Olympic Council of Ireland said on its website.

Hickey is accused with six others of illegally selling tickets for the Olympics. Hickey is president of the Olympic Council of Ireland, the European Olympic Committees, and has been an IOC executive board member since 2012.

"Continuing our investigation, civil police discovered the involvement of Patrick in the international scheme of ticket scalping," the Rio police fraud unit said in a statement.

Authorities seized about 1,000 tickets that were sold for amounts more than what was set by Olympic organizers and Rio police have arrested around 40 people who have been selling tickets outside the Olympic Park in Rio.

Kevin James Mallon, the director of THG Sports, a sports hospitality company based in London and his interpreter Barbara Carnieri were also arrested for the ticket scheme.

- Scooby Axson