Former Olympic Council of Ireland President Pat Hickey remained tight-lipped about his previous relationship with Vladimir Putin - when confronted by us.
Mr Hickey, 76, who once said he built up a “relationship” with Mr Putin for up to a decade, refused to comment when asked about the Russian autocrat’s horrific actions in Ukraine yesterday.
We approached Mr Hickey near his home in Dublin’s leafy Castleknock, where at first he stopped and smiled as our reporter approached- but once we stated who we were he said: “I don’t want to talk to you.”
We then asked Mr Hickey if he would condemn the actions of Mr Putin - a man he once stated it was a “privilege” to meet.
“I’ve no comment whatsoever,” he replied.
He also refused to answer as to what the state of his relationship with Mr Putin is today.
Mr Hickey, who previously claimed Putin’s government intervened to try and help him after his infamous Rio arrest, then retreated into his home.
Mr Hickey’s close relationship with Putin first came to light when a photo emerged of the pair together at dinner during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
In an interview in 2017, Mr Hickey stated he had “known Vladimir Putin,” for between eight to ten years - and that their relationship stems from their mutual love of judo.
“He’s the patron of the Judo Federation in Russia and the World Judo Federation and I meet him at tournaments. He is not an honorary black belt - he’s a fighting black belt. We’d talk about the stars of judo...that relationship built up between us,” Mr Hickey said at the time.
And he added that whenever he was in Russia on business “I invariably got an invitation to come and see him in the Kremlin.”
“I had the privilege of being twice there to see him, once to have dinner with him but not just us on our own, there were about five or six other people, which was a great honour and great privilege,” he added.
Asked at the time if he would look forward to seeing the Russian leader again in the future, he said:
“I certainly would. Let me tell you this: I know for a fact that the Russian government made representations on my behalf.
“The Polish government made representations on my behalf. The Russians were active and the Polish were active."
Mr Hickey’s now infamous arrest at the luxury Hotel Windsor on suspicion of involvement in the organisation of ticket touting made headlines worldwide in 2016.
Video footage of the incident showed Mr Hickey in his dressing gown as officers confronted him and arrested him on the spot.
The dramatic arrest saw Mr Hickey suffer a heart attack and end up being hospitalised.
It also led to the end of his 28 year reign at the helm of the OCI.
Mr Hickey, who denied the charges against him, spent 10 days in the infamous Bangu Prison - before he was released.
In January it emerged that some of the charges levelled against Mr Hickey had been dropped.
Three of the charges against him, along with Kevin Mallon, Director of sports hospitality company THG, were dropped due to “extinction of punishability.”
Both men declared their innocence throughout.
A charge relating to the use of Rio 2016 logos, products or services for economic advantage without the correct permissions was formally dropped, as was a tax evasion charge.
A charge levelled against the men under Article 41 F of a Brazilian sporting law, which deals with ticket touting, was also dropped because too much time has elapsed.
However further charges remain active - Mr Hickey denies them.
Mr Hickey and Mr Mallon left Brazil in December 2016, having paid a bond of BRL$1.5 million (worth €410,000 at the time) and BRL$750,000, respectively.
Defence lawyers for the two Irish men have maintained their innocence since their arrests and have several times argued in the courts that there is a “lack of just cause” for prosecuting the two.
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