A man reported to be a director of Town owner Marcus Evans’s THG Sports hospitality company and an interpreter have been arrested at the Rio Olympics for the alleged illegal sale of tickets.
Brazilian police seized more than 1,000 tickets which they allege were being offered for sale at prices significantly above face value for sought-after events, including last Friday's opening ceremony.
Kevin James Mallon, who the police say is a director of THG, reportedly faces charges of false marketing, associating with criminals and touting, while translator Barbara Carnieri was detained on suspicion of false marketing. A request for them to be jailed while investigations continue has been approved.
The tickets bore the name of the Olympic Council of Ireland, for whom THG were the official ticketing agent at London 2012 and at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. However, THG are understood not to be their reseller for the current Games and the Olympic Council of Ireland have denied knowledge of the arrested individuals.
At this summer's European Championships in France THG were among a number of organisations UEFA said they were suing for the alleged selling of unauthorised hospitality packages, which was far from the first time companies owned by Evans have fallen foul of an international tournament organiser.
The organisers of the 2007 Rugby World Cup challenged the THG Group’s right to sell packages at their tournament without approval. They ultimately took the matter to the highest appeal court in France, which ruled in THG’s favour.
At the 2010 World Cup in South Africa an employee of THG was charged with ticket touting.