RIO DE JANEIRO -- A senior Olympic executive from Ireland was arrested and taken to the hospital Wednesday after police raided his beachfront hotel as part of an investigation into the illegal sale of tickets for the Rio de Janeiro Games.Patrick Hickey, a member of the International Olympic Committees executive board, was accused of plotting with at least nine others to sell tickets above face value in a scheme that authorities say netted about $3 million in profits.At least a half dozen police officers went to the luxury hotel in the upscale Barra da Tijuca neighborhood in the early morning hours to arrest the 71-year-old Hickey, who fell ill and was taken by ambulance to a local hospital.Irelands national Olympic committee -- the Olympic Council of Ireland -- said Hickey was admitted to Samaratino Hospital for investigation of chest pain and was in stable condition.In view of his previous cardiac history he will remain in hospital for a further 24 hours, the Irish committee said in a statement Wednesday night.Hickeys alleged involvement was through Irelands Olympic committee, which police said helped transfer tickets to an unauthorized vendor who would set high fees and disguise the transaction as a hospitality package. Hickey was charged with conspiracy, ticket scalping and ambush marketing and will be detained while the investigation continues.The Olympic Council of Ireland said Hickey decided to step aside temporarily as an IOC member and from all his other Olympic positions until this matter is fully resolved. Hickey is also president of the OCI, head of the European Olympic Committees and vice president of the Association of National Olympic Committees.Mr. Hickey will of course continue to cooperate and assist with all ongoing enquiries, the Irish body said in a statement.The IOC said it respectfully takes note of Hickeys decision to step aside from his Olympic roles.Until then, the presumption of innocence prevails, the committee said in a statement.Police arrived at the IOCs hotel at 6 a.m. and found only Hickeys wife, who refused to tell them where he was. Police, however, found Hickeys Olympic accreditation badge on the floor, along with his shoes, socks and bag. They asked for the hotels help and found him in the adjacent room, registered under his sons name.Images by ESPN Brazil show Hickey answering the door to police and stepping into the bathroom naked. Moments later, he walks out in a white bathrobe.Investigators said Hickey initially was shaken and the hotels doctor recommended his transfer to a nearby hospital for tests because of his age and medical history. He remained in the hospital under police custody.Hickey, a former judo athlete, has been an IOC member since 1995. He has served on the policy-making executive board since 2012.IOC spokesman Mark Adams said the committee would fully cooperate with the police investigation.We dont know what the allegations or charges are yet, he said. We have full confidence in the system here.The allegations centered on more than 800 tickets belonging to the Irish committee.Todays arrest shows that the law must be followed, top police investigator Ricardo Barbosa said after a news conference. Even more when we are talking about the biggest sporting event that should uphold ethics and an international spirit. We found out that the Irish Olympic Committee ended up facilitating the ticket scalping scheme.An Irish executive was arrested last week in the same investigation. Kevin James Mallon is one of the heads of British hospitality provider THG, the main company suspected in the scheme. Mallon was arrested along with a local employee who was working as an interpreter.Authorities have also issued warrants for four more executives at THG, including Marcus Evans, who owns Marcus Evans Group, the parent company and owner of English soccer club Ipswich Town.Police are also looking for two soccer agents and a financial adviser at Pro 10 Sports Management, which investigators allege was created to facilitate the transfer of tickets between the Irish Olympic committee and THG, an unauthorized ticket seller.After the first arrests last week, the Olympic Council of Ireland said it would investigate why some of its tickets were in the possession of the suspects. The OCI name was visible on tickets displayed by police, but the Irish said they had no knowledge of the people in custody.---AP Sports Writer Rob Harris contributed to this report. 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Nine days before the opening ceremony, organizing committee chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said Wednesday that Sochi is "fully ready" and will deliver safe, friendly and well-run games that defy the grim reports that have overshadowed preparations. Pep Guardiola has questions to answer at Manchester City.It was a dream start at City for the coach regarded by many as the best in the world. Ten competitive games; 10 wins; a runaway Premier League win seemingly in the bag. But thats not how the game works and -- fast forward a little over two months -- there are now big question marks over the Manchester clubs title credentials.They will try to bounce back from another disheartening setback when hosting Watford on Wednesday night at the Etihad.Man City (9-3-3) have won just four of their last 15 matches in all competitions and been hit for seven goals over the course of their last two league fixtures. Saturdays 4-2 loss to Leicester City raised doubts over Citys ability to cope with the physical demands of English football.I am not a coach for the tackles, a prickly Guardiola said after the defeat. I dont train for tackles. What I want is to try to play well and score goals.What are tackles? You have to win the duels -- that is true. But normally when you play well you win tackles, but after four minutes, at 2-0, the mind of the players is: What is going on? What happened?It is another aspect of football, but in the end we are not going to win or lose because of the tackles.The remarks are Guardiola being consciously obtuse, almost toying with the real football men scattered across the English media. But the critics of his style would point to the fact that his team had just been dismantled by Leicester as a good example of why his team do indeed need to discover some backbone to go along with the tactical flexibility and pretty build-up play.Wednesdays game against Watford (6-3-6) should be just the chance that City need to show that theyve got the mentality requiredd to catch league leaders Chelsea -- who are currently seven points ahead heading into the midweek matches.ddddddddddddWalter Mazzarris Watford have struggled for consistency away from home and allowed nine goals in their last two league matches on the road -- a worrying defensive record ahead of a meeting with free-scoring City.But Watford are no pushovers, as shown by the weekends 3-2 home win over Everton. The Hornets will have taken hope from Citys capitulation against Leicester.I saw the game against Leicester, Mazzarri said. I was surprised, but in Italy we have a saying: Each game has its own story.That result wont help us. We will find Manchester City very angry and concentrated, we wont have the luck that they will underestimate us.Angry and concentrated they may be, but the Citizens will be missing both club captain Vincent Kompany due to injury and talismanic striker Sergio Aguero due to suspension.Watford have a number of injury concerns, and Mazzarri has admitted that he is concerned over the fitness of a number of those who started against Everton at the weekend.After such an intense game like the one against Everton, where we spent a lot physically and mentally, its hard for me to decide on the team that will take part in the game against Manchester City, the Watford boss said.Some of the players have trained since individually, some trained with the whole team. In order to make a decision we will assess them (Tuesday) or the day after.Adrian Mariappa is certainly unavailable due to a knee injury, but Craig Cathcart, Younes Kaboul and Valon Behrami will face late fitness tests. ' ' '
