If this was Hollywood the script writers would have been told to go lie down and give their fevered imaginations a break.
The story of 2016 at the Olympic Council of Ireland, a drama in who knows how many acts, will undoubtedly make for an interesting book in years to come and perhaps a movie but for now it is real.
Real in the sense of the pressures on the individuals concerned; Real in terms of the reputation damage it is inflicting on Irish sport; Real in terms of not being sure which twist or turn is likely to come next.
Closer to midnight last night that the start of the Nine O’Clock news we received a statement from the hard working Olive Stevens of the Communications Clinic, the PR advisers to the Olympic Council.
The statement in full reads:
“At a meeting of the OCI Executive Committee this evening the following decisions was taken:”
“The Grant Thornton review into ticketing arrangements in Rio will be postponed and completed only following the conclusion of criminal proceedings against Mr Pat Hickey in Rio.”
“This decision was taken following the receipt of a letter from Mr Hickey’s lawyers this week in which he threatened to make an application to the High Court for an injunction preventing the completion of the review.”
“The Executive Committee has decided not to incur the very significant additional cost of defending any such legal proceedings.”
“The Executive Committee restated its commitment to continuing full cooperation with the Moran non statutory State inquiry.”
“There will be an EGM of the OCI in January 2017 to elect a new Executive Committee.”
“The completed Deloitte report on corporate governance arrangements at the OCI will be issued to OCI member federations next week in advance of January’s EGM.”
“Be very careful”
Within hours of last week’s Executive Committee meeting of the OCI, the entire contents of the Deloitte Report, albeit in a not yet final draft were all across the media.
There are no punches pulled in the report, commissioned by the OCI Executive Committee itself. It will doubtless have made for extremely uncomfortable reading for those who have been involved in the administration of the organisation.
That the full report will be published shortly was inevitable and an important step on the way to a more transparent future.
Threshold
That an EGM is to be called for January is also an important advance. The statement says it is to elect a new Executive Committee but does not clarify whether the existing committee is joining Kevin Kilty and John Delaney in stepping down or whether some or all will go forward for re-election.
The threshold for change to constitutions and other matters is higher at an EGM than an AGM but given the overwhelming support indicated in the Deloitte report for a restriction on terms of office and other recommendations it is unlikely this will have any material impact on the decisions taken.
Then again in this story no one scene is guaranteed to follow the next.
The suspension of the Grant Thornton Report is perhaps unsurprising given that if it is to be of use it will need to cover substantial ground that will form part of the trial of Pat Hickey, the 28 year former president of the OCI in Rio.
No date has been set for that as yet and even though the report was to be sealed and sent to Justice Moran for his Government instigated non statutory investigation of the OCI and its ticketing activities, the history of this saga is that information has found its way into the public domain as easy as water flowing down a hill.
Threat
The fact that it took a threat of a high court injunction by Mr Hickey’s legal team to stop the investigation is one of the twists that the script editors would likely reject.
The reason given for compliance with the threat, as opposed to a court decision, is that the OCI Executive did not want to incur the ‘very significant additional cost’ of defending any legal proceedings.
That is a noble defence of finances which are in part built on funding from the Irish taxpayer through grants from Sport Ireland.
The irony is though that Mr Hickey’s legal expenses themselves are being met, at least in part if not in full by the OCI. Unless of course that has changed since the International Olympic Committee told us back in August that this was the case.
Who pays?
Will the bill for threatening the action have to be paid by the OCI?
We do not yet know what the status is now of the Moran investigation. Without the Grant Thornton Report a substantial body of the material to be considered will have to be sought by other means.
It is likely that would be met with a similar argument that it could be prejudicial to the overseas trial of an Irish citizen, and sought to be stopped through the Irish judicial system.
That is not a position which any Government Minister would want to be sitting in front of.
Does that mean that the Irish Government investigation of the Olympic Council of Ireland will now effectively be carried out on the timetable of the Brazilian justice system?
Shadow
The answers and the details that emerge from these investigations may very well prove to completely exonerate all involved. Until they do though there is a shadow hanging over the Olympic Council and by extension Irish sport.
The nuances of how damaging or not that may be in an Irish context can be teased and tweaked endlessly as the ‘right’ conclusion is placed ahead of a ‘quick’ resolution.
International opinion though will be quicker to pass summary judgement. And that is unlikely to do much for our international standing.
One of the defining characteristics of great drama is that you know when it starts, whether on RTÉ TV, Netflix or the stage of the Abbey Theatre, and when it is likely to finish. The end of this one is still a long way in the distance.
