Olympic Federation of Ireland surprised by European Games invite for Hickey

Last week’s news that former president of the Olympic Council of Ireland (now Olympic Federation of Ireland) Pat Hickey was invited to the European Games in Minsk was not something the OFI saw coming.

Following the controversy surrounding Hickey’s arrest in Rio and subsequent imprisonment, the lack of action on the part of the Brazilian judicial system and the ongoing investigation by the IOC Ethics committee has created a limbo.

Hickey would claim the current situation hurts him more than anyone as he remains self-suspended at least until the IOC come to a final decision.

The European Olympic Committee (EOC) of which Hickey was once president have stood behind him all along claiming his innocence from shortly after the games in 2016. Although charged in Rio, Hickey has not been found guilty of anything and it’s looking less likely he will face a Brazilian court.

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That doesn’t assuage the OFI discomfort by his presences in Minsk as a guest with no formal role but still holding the status of an IOC man among his own. Surprised at the invitation, Sarah Keane, the current OFI president, played down any suggestion of conflict between her Irish organisation and the European body.

“We were a little bit surprised because the IOC Ethics Commission hasn’t yet come out with any ruling on the matter,” said Keane at a function to announce badminton’s Chloe Magee as the Irish team’s flag bearer for the European Games.

“We did expect that at some stage we would understand what the position was from an IOC perspective around the IOC member in Ireland [Hickey] who is currently self suspended.

“It is now a couple of years that have gone bye and we have had no update on what is happening in Brazil. At some stage something is going to, as far as we understand, have to happen in terms of what the IOC’s position is around it. They have confirmed to us that their position is unchanged and that the former president has no role or function within the movement.”

The OFI find themselves in a sensitive position having rebuilt the organisation and changed the way it is governed and constituted with Sports Minister Ross declaring it the poster child for modern governance. But Hickey has always remained close to Europe.

In June 2015, as president of the EOC, Hickey was awarded the Order of Glory, Azerbaijan’s highest honour, by president of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev.

In January 2016 Hickey awarded the EOC Order of Merit to the First Lady of Azerbaijan, Mehriban Aliyeva, at IOC Headquarters in Lausanne. The Order of Merit is the highest distinction the EOC can award.

No role

In October 2016 following Rio the acting EOC president Kocijancic and Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko told a EOC meeting in Minsk that Hickey was innocent and there was a lack of evidence that he had committed any crimes. Lukshenko told the gathering he was sure that Hickey would be seen among them very soon.

“I haven’t spoken to the EOC president myself. He [Kocijancic] has advised that it is standard to invite their former presidents to events and that our former president would have been involved in creating the European Games. So that’s how they view it,” explained Keane.

“They don’t view it as any more than that. He will have no role or function at the European Games so the IOC position has not changed. From our perspective we fully await the outcome of the investigation they are undertaking at IOC level, which I believe is still in progress.”

Keane stressed that the Irish body has a strong relationship with the EOC despite their obvious insensitivity of not engaging with the OFI prior to inviting Hickey to Minsk. It is a case of the bigger brother ignoring the contribution the smaller sibling might have wanted to make.

“We’ve a very good relationship with the EOC, and the IOC,” said Keane. “Maybe there is not a full understanding of how our former president is potentially perceived here at European or world level.”

But the clock is ticking for the IOC to complete their investigation before Tokyo next year. The Judge Moran report into the ticketing scandal was sent to the IOC almost two years ago and an EOC invitation to go Tokyo remains a possibility.

“I would have hoped the investigation would have been completed and then everybody will understand what the situation is and what the outcome is,” said Keane. “Our focus will be on providing the best conditions for our athletes to perform.

“I would expect that our former president who has been in the Olympic movement for a long time and has represented our IOC for a long time would feel the same way. He spent a lot of his life around the Olympic movement and would also want to ensure the Irish team gets its opportunity to shine and nothing distracts from that.”