Updated Statement– 15 August 2016
OCI President Pat Hickey and First Vice President William O’Brien had a constructive and frank discussion with Minister Ross on Sunday night. At the meeting the OCI reiterated that having obtained the advice of senior counsel it would be inappropriate and unnecessary to change the make up of the OCI investigatory panel, which has already been convened with the approval of the OCI Executive Board. The OCI investigation is underway and the panel has received an initial response from Pro10 indicating their intention to cooperate fully. Responses are still awaited from the Rio 2016 Organising Committee.
The OCI will not risk prejudicing the ongoing judicial process in Brazil by making any further public comment. An Irish citizen has been charged by Brazilian authorities and he is fundamentally entitled to due process and to the presumption of innocence. The OCI will be happy to make public the findings of its own investigation at the appropriate time, but not before the Brazilian legal case has been resolved.
For the avoidance of doubt, the OCI is not investigating itself; it is investigating the chain of events from the appointment of Pro10 to the arrest of Mr Mallon. There remains no suggestion of any wrongdoing or misconduct on the part of the OCI or any of its staff.
The OCI directs anyone seeking further information to the OCI website where all public statements have been posted, in addition to responses to frequently asked questions about the current situation. All the information the OCI is able to provide is posted on these pages.
We look forward to ensuring that the Minister and his wife enjoy their stay in Rio for the Olympic Games and join us in cheering on Team Ireland’s athletes.
For clarification
Minister Ross referred to the OCI being taxpayer-funded in a media interview on Sunday night. The OCI receives approximately €200,000 of government funding per year, which is earmarked specifically for athlete development and is audited annually. The vast majority of the OCI’s revenue is derived from the IOC and its own commercial partnerships. The OCI is a non-profit organisation and as a publicly registered company our financial information is available in the Companies Registration Office.
