IOC board member, 71, arrested in suspicion of mega ticket scalping ring

If convicted, Patrick Hickey could sit in prison for seven years

A high-ranking International Olympic Committee official could be facing seven years in prison because of his suspected involvement in a ticket-scalping ring. Patrick Hickey, a 71-year-old member of the executive board for the IOC, was reportedly taken to a hospital in Rio de Janeiro after police came to his hotel to arrest him early Wednesday morning.

Hickey, who is from Ireland and is the chief of that country's Olympic Council, "is accused of plotting with at least six others to illegally sell tickets for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics," Rio de Janeiro police told the Associated Press.

Hours after the arrest, Ireland's Olympic Council said Hickey has "temporarily" decided to remove himself from all Olympic-related duties until the issue is settled.

It is against the law for members of the IOC to obtain and/or sell Olympic tickets for personal profit. Authorities have confiscated upward of 1,000 tickets so far.

Hickey has been a part of the IOC's top board for four years and is also president of the European Olympic Committee.

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The company suspected is British hospitality provider THG Sports.

One of the executives wanted is Marcus Evans, who owns Marcus Evans Group, the parent company for THG Sports and the owner of English soccer club Ipswich Town.

Kevin James Mallon, one of the heads of THG Sports, was arrested at the start of the Rio Games along with an employee who was working as an interpreter. Police say Mallon had fake tickets.

The IOC has acknowledged the incident and said, "We are still in the process of establishing the facts" in a statement to the press. Hickey is reportedly the second person arrested of the six in question in this ticket scalping case. The previous arrest, which came last week, was an Irish executive.