Former Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) president Pat Hickey can, if he wishes, return to the board of the OCI as an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member despite the reconstituted Irish body not wishing for that to happen. He has recently stepped aside.
The new executive committee of OCI wrote to the international body earlier this year informing them that it was their express wish that Mr Hickey would not automatically sit on the OCI Board and that he would not have voting rights.
However, the IOC informed the Irish body that could not happen because for Mr Hickey not to sit on the OCI board and enjoy voting rights would be in breach of their International Olympic Charter, which governs how the Olympic movement is governed and how it functions.
The IOC has recently advised the Irish organisation that they would not accept any change and have required the OCI to ensure that the “IOC member is a full voting member of the Board.”
In addition the IOC has required that the OCI should not subject Mr Hickey to a term limit, meaning he will sit on the Executive Board for as long as he remains an IOC member.
Mr Hickey ‘self- suspended’ himself from all duties following his arrest in Rio 2016 and the subsequent scandal surrounding the sale of Olympic Games’ tickets.
However it was reported last month that Mr Hickey would not return to Rio de Janeiro for a trial date set for November 29th. The supreme court in Brasília confirmed that an injunction to suspend the case granted to a ticket re-sales (THG) executive Kevin Mallon, arrested with Mr Hickey, also extended to the former OCI president.
The OCI Board has just drawn up rules, expected to be ratified at an EGM on Tuesday night, that say from 2028 an Executive member ‘shall have a four year term in office’ and that no person may serve on the Executive for more than eight years (2x4-years terms).
The IOC believes this term limit should not apply to Mr Hickey, who presided over the OCI for 27 years.
