We expect to hear today the terms of reference for the Government inquiry into the Olympic Ticketing scandal. This follows on from discussion with political leaders and submissions from interested parties including Sport for Business.
Given the deluge of information being released by Brazilian police, and the apparent retaining by Pat Hickey of regular email communication with Marcus Evans of The Hospitality Group, it may well feel that any inquiry will only be playing catch up with information in the public domain from Rio but it in the detail that lessons will be learnt of what happened and how the system can be managed, and seen to be managed better in future.
Honorary General Secretary Dermot Henihan is now heading home after being released by the authorities on the basis that he had only a bureaucratic rather than a decision making role in ticketing.
ICI CEO Stephen Martin and Chef de Mission Kevin Kilty will be hoping for a similar outcome after meeting with Police tomorrow.
President Pat Hickey is reported by the police to have said that decisions were made collectively by the Olympic Council Executive, rather than by him as an individual and pressure is mounting now on others on the Executive to clarify these claims.
Never before has the inclusion as a bcc on an email been of greater import when it comes to possible criminal charges in Brazil, regardless as to whether any laws were broken in Ireland.
The terms of reference for the Government inquiry will likely include reference to the stepping up to a statutory basis if needed.
This has become more relevant given an understanding that the constitution of the Olympic Council of Ireland expressly states that communication and decision making is confidential and cannot be disclosed to third parties.
Compulsion in terms of a criminal investigation would supersede that but again, with no suggestion of criminal laws being broken here, there is the prospect of a legal knot forming about what can and cannot be disclosed to a non-statutory body.
That would not be in the interest of good governance, it would further alienate a cynical public and it would would run counter to OCI claims that it will fully cooperate.
It cannot be allowed to get in the way of an honest and open review of what has happened.
