Martin Burke, the Olympic Council of Ireland’s Sports Director has been named as the third Irish individual whom Brazilian authorities are seeking to present charges of ticket touting against.
The Hospitality Group Finance Director Kevin Mallon and Olympic Council of Ireland President Pat Hickey are the other two among a wider group currently either held in Rio or being sought to assist with enquiries.
The Olympic Authorities in Greece and Latvia, both of who also either sought to have THG involved in ticket sales or actually involved on the ground in Rio are also being investigated.
Latest police evidence gleaned from computers and mobile phones suggest that THG was actively selling in Brazil with tickets originally sourced through Pro10, the company handling the OCI allocation, the OCI itself, presumably through additional tickets reported to have been requested from the IOC for key events; and Carton, another Authorised Ticket Reseller representing 36 countries including Jamaica, Colombia and Mexico.
Yet again the Brazilian justice system has astonished non seasoned watchers of legal process with the depth of information revealed in a press conference yesterday.
Spreadsheets
Spreadsheets detailing the amounts of money paid for packages, the number of tickets being sold and connected conversations between the individuals which are being put forward for charges would all have been withheld as evidence in Ireland and presented once due process of a trial and jury had been commenced.
The International Olympic Council President Thomas Bach is being sought as a witness as a result of some of these conversations, some of which allegedly with Pat Hickey were laid out in German media last week.
He missed the spectacular opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games on Wednesday night though officials insisted this was to attend a state funeral in his native Germany. It was the first time in 32 years that the sitting IOC President had not shown up for the Paralympics opening.
Martin Burke has been involved as Sports Director with the Olympic Council for over 20 years and through Games dating back as far as Barcelona in 1992.
He is pictured above with Irish Amateur Boxing Association President Fergal Carruth at the Irish Institute of Sport earlier this year.
Burke’s involvement in the investigation is based on prosecutor claims that he was responsible for one of the computers seized at the OCI office in Rio during the games. Chef de Mission Kevin Kilty and OCI Chief Executive Stephen Martin were interviewed by police in Rio but cleared to return to Ireland.
