Ireland’s Olympic committee has lost almost €1m (£850,000/$1.1m) due to the Rio 2016 ticketing scandal.
In an Extraordinary General Assembly, the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) said it has spent €900,688 in “emergency expenditure” since its then-president Patrick Hickey was arrested in Brazil for alleged involvement in ticket touting in August.
Honorary treasurer William Kennedy added that only 10 per cent of that total has so far been reimbursed via insurance pay-outs.
Among the costs racked up by the OCI were outlays of €394,000 to law firm Arthur Cox. Consultants Grant Thornton received €214,900 for an “impartial investigation” into the controversy.
The OCI ended with reserve funds of €1.5m, for which Hickey was praised.
OCI honorary general secretary Dermot Henihan criticised much of the post-ticketing scandal spending during his speech to the Dublin meeting. Later in the proceedings Henihan was voted out of his position in favour of Sarah O’Shea.
Hickey returned to Ireland in December after four months on remand in Brazil.
He was allowed to leave the country after promising to return to face charges which include ticket touting, forming a criminal cartel, illicit marketing, embezzlement, tax evasion, and money laundering. He denies all charges.
Hickey and hospitality firm THG Sports’ Marcus Evans and Kevin Mallon were among nine charged.
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