The office of the Public Prosecutor in Rio has formally laid charges against Pat Hickey and THG executive Kevin Mallon.

The indictment relates to their alleged involvement in ticket touting at the 2016 Olympic Games.

They and a number of others are accused of charges including touting, money laundering, false marketing and tax evasion.

Under Brazilian law, a judge will now have to decide whether or not to pursue the charges and place the men on trial.

Mr Hickey stepped aside as OCI president following his arrest on August 17th.

He is due to attend a Rio police station for more questioning today.

However, a statement from the Hickey family said he will not be making any comment during the pre-arranged interview.

"He will be invoking his constitutional right to silence because the Brazilian police have released documents to the media that Pat’s lawyers have had no access to," the statement said.

Mr Mallon, an executive with THG Sports, was the first Irish person to be detained over the Rio controversy on August 5th.

PRO10, Ireland’s authorised ticket reseller (ATR), said the tickets he had in his possession were simply being held for collection by its customers.

Both men have since been released on bail, and deny any wrongdoing.

In a statement, PRO10 said it completely refuted the charges that were put forward by the Brazilian police today in relation to its role as the Irish ATR.

"As we have stated numerous times, PRO10 have at all times acted properly and fully in line with the ATR guidelines," it said.

"We will vigorously defend our reputation and we will fully challenge the very basis of these charges.

"All tickets sold by PRO10 as the Irish ATR for the Rio 2016 Olympics were sold fully in line with the ATR guidelines.  

"These tickets were made available for sale through the authorised ATR process and were sold to legitimate customers of PRO10 at face value plus the allowed ATR reseller fee."

Eaun McKenna, an Irish journalist based in Brazil, explains what some of the charges mean: