From top: Pro 10 offices, Main Street, Lucan, Co Dublin; THG logo

Further to the Rio ticket brouhaha

The Irish Examiner reports:

A “close commercial relationship” exists between two firms at the heart of the multi-million euro Olympics ticket touting scandal, it was admitted last night.

…Amid allegations by Brazilian police that THG [part of the Marcus Evans Group] has been involved in a decade-long global ticket touting scandal it has attempted to cover-up by “camouflaging” increased prices by including hospitality services, the company initially denied any connection to Pro10.

However, a THG spokesman last night told the Irish Examiner it has “close commercial links” with the smaller firm.

“There may well have been a close commercial relationship between Pro10 and THG because that is a normal thing when they are doing big things in Rio,” said the spokesman. “These guys [Pro10], I am not excusing it and I do not know the answer, but these guys are a small company, when this news broke they didn’t know how to handle it.”

Meanwhile, The Irish Times reports:

When the Irish Times rang Pro10’s Lucan office this week it was redirected to a voicemail where the message noted that the voicemail was full. It went on to say: “Thank you for calling Marcus Evans. Our office is now closed.”

When contacted, a spokesman for Pro10 Sports Management said it too was “puzzled” as to how the reference to Marcus Evans appeared on a phone line which was supposed to have been run by it.

He said the number in question had been shut down and expressed surprise it was now live again. He stressed that Pro10 was not affiliated to the Marcus Evans Group.

And in a separate article:

Pro10, which was established by two Irish football agents and a Dublin mortgage broker shortly before being awarded the Olympic ticketing contract, says it handled all Rio ticket enquiries itself during Irish office hours.

…“Outside of these hours, and because of the time difference between Ireland and Brazil, the Pro10 phone line diverted to the THG phone line as this phone line was manned round the clock and could deal with any collection queries [in Rio] for Pro10 customers,” it said.

…Pro10 insists it has no commercial relationship with THG and the UK company was not paid for manning its phone lines. It also insists neither THG nor Mr Mallon were paid for acting as the point of contact for tickets collection for Pro10 customers in Rio.

Close ties between firms at heart of Olympics ticket touting scandal revealed (Daniel McConnell and Fiachra Ó Cionnaith, Irish Examiner)

What is the story with the Olympics ticketing controversy? (Conor Pope, Irish Times)

THG manned tickets hotline for Pro10 ‘to ensure 24-hour cover’ (Mark Paul, Tom Hennigan, Irish Times)

Previously: Fresh Scalps

Rollingnews