Minister Shane Ross arrived back in Dublin yesterday and will need to shake off any jet lag as he seeks to shore up the reputation of Irish sports management.
He will be meeting today with Minister of State for Sport Patrick O’Donovan and Attorney General Marie Whelan. Communication with Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s office has been ongoing through the week.
Whatever form of inquiry and analysis is decided will be seen as very tame compared to the technicolor explosion of the Brazilian police investigation which currently has Pat Hickey refused bail and in detention.
Different legal opinions yesterday suggested that in the absence of criminal charges here, a Government investigation of an independent public company in good standing, which is the position of the Olympic Council of Ireland, would not be normal or indeed justified.
An added complication is that all Government funding for the OCI is channelled through Sport Ireland, formerly the Irish Sports Council. It is the decision of that body who to fund and in what size. The Government has no direct role in that decision making process.
The Government then could technically only investigate Sport Ireland’s adherence to governance principals but that is too far removed from what the public, and indeed the Government itself wants to know.
The focus then would turn to Sport Ireland itself conducting an investigation which board member Bernard Allen suggested last night was likely to happen.
What legal basis or grounding this might have though is unclear.
In financial terms a withdrawal of funding would be merely symbolic as most of the €520,000 money from this year, and the €1.7 million over this four year cycle has already been spent.
This covers administrative expenses at the OCI but mostly goes in grants to different sports. In May the OCI granted €50,000 to Hockey Ireland to assist the final preparation for the men’s international team who represented Ireland in Rio.
It does have grant aid from the International Olympic Committee as well and there is no suggestion as yet that this is to be withheld. They have stopped Pat Hickey’s €800 per diem expenses in a personal capacity but nothing more.
Commercial income from Electric Ireland as the main team sponsor and other commercial partners including Kellogg’s, Kia, Muller, Newbridge Silverware forms part of the company’s income. US kit manufacturer New Balance will also have made a major contribution with Ireland it’s only Olympic team in Rio.
For 2017 and beyond though Sport Ireland funding for the OCI will still form a major part of its income, arguably more important until the next commercial cycle kicks into gear for Tokyo 2020.
For most sports the Olympic Games are the pinnacle of their high performance programmes, the target to which athletes aspire in giving over their lifestyle and energy.
It is very unlikely that Sport Ireland would stop funding at OCI level but it does need to satisfy the public, the Minister, and it’s own often cash strapped national governing bodies that everything is being done in accordance with the right standards of behaviour.
The Olympic Council may not legally have to cooperate with an investigation but to play that card would be seen as the height of arrogance and serve no purpose so long as nothing is being hidden.
The process of how the ticketing situation arose needs to be laid out clearly so that the whiff of wrongdoing can be dispelled.
How and why were Pro10 selected as the agency to be the OCI’s ticket reseller, or indeed the Rio Organising Committee’s official agency in the Irish jurisdiction?
Were they the only option as had been originally suggested?
If that is the case why is it that the Paralympic Games tickets are being managed by another company, CoSport who also handle the British Olympic and Paralympic sale of tickets and have been involved in Olympic Games since the Sydney Games of 2000?
Matters of expenses paid to Pat Hickey, who paid for hotel rooms and first class travel will also likely come into the mix though extending the national inquiry to include International Olympic Committee protocols would be time consuming and likely provide little additional understanding.
It is believed that Kieran Mulvey, Chairman and John Treacy, CEO of Sport Ireland are still in Rio but we believe it is most likely that they will be the ones tasked with heading the inquiry that Government, the public and almost all concerned see as being imperative.
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