RIO DE JANEIRO -- The IOC hierarchy is used to being treated like royalty in Olympic host cities. Brazilian police afforded Patrick Hickey no such deference early Wednesday, bringing a TV crew to film the IOC executive being arrested in a Rio de Janeiro hotel room while naked.The powerful head of Europes Olympic bodies is now a criminal suspect, accused of being part of a plot to rake in $3 million by illegally selling Rio Olympic tickets above face value:Here is a closer look at the case.---WHO IS HICKEY?Until Wednesday morning, Hickey was the president of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) and collecting his $900-a-day games per diem as an IOC executive board member.The former judo athlete built his powerbase through the sport, going on to lead the entire Irish team at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics before being elected an IOC member in 1995. He joined the ruling executive board four years ago.The Irish body announced that Hickey would be relinquishing all Olympic roles while being investigated for scalping.The OCI website still describes Hickey as probably the top ranked Irish administrator in the world of international sport and, as well as being a prime mover in the IOC, he is president of the powerful European Olympic Committees organization.In that role, Hickey launched the European Games, which were staged for the first time last year in Baku amid criticism over Azerbaijans human rights record. Hickey has been struggling to find a host to stage the 2019 games.---POLICE CASEConspiracy, ticket scalping and ambush marketing are the charges facing the 71-year-old Hickey. Police cant start to question Hickey yet as he became ill while being arrested in the Barra da Tijuca district of Rio and taken to a hospital.National Olympic committees receive tickets, some of which are sold legally and wind up in package deals.But in the biggest example of alleged profiteering, police said some Irish tickets for the Rio opening ceremony with a face value of $1,400 were sold for $8,000.Police believe tickets from Irelands official allocation were transferred to an unauthorized vendor, British company THG, who would set high fees and disguise the transaction as a hospitality package. Pro 10 Sports Management is the authorized company to sell Rio Games tickets in Ireland.Our conclusion is that the creation of Pro10 was a maneuver used to transfer the tickets to THG, which did not obtain the accreditation to sell tickets, said Aloysio Falcao, an investigator with the Rio police fraud unit.According to Falcao that was to enable ticket scalping disguised as hospitality packages.---OTHER SUSPECTSThe investigation was no surprise for Hickey. Rio police made their first arrests last week, detaining THG executive Kevin James Mallon who was found with games tickets designated to the Irish Olympic body. At the time, Hickey denied any wrongdoing by the OCI but Irish legislators said they wanted to question him about the tickets.Brazilian authorities have also issued warrants for four more executives at THG, including Marcus Evans, who owns its parent company as well as English soccer club Ipswich Town. Evans regularly faces scrutiny for his sale of tickets for major sporting events.---WORLD CUP CASEIf officials being arrested on ticket-scalping charges at an international sports event in Brazil sounds familiar thats because it happened at the 2014 World Cup.Raymond Whelan, a British director of FIFA ticketing partner Match Services, was arrested in a blaze of publicity at a luxury Copacabana hotel two years ago. Around eight months later, a Rio court ruled there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him for the illegal sale of tickets.Coincidentally, Matchs loss-making operations at the 2010 World Cup received a boost when THG staff were arrested for ticket selling in South Africa, using laws that FIFA supported being introduced for the tournament. Keita Bates-Diop Jersey . Oaklands loss to Seattle clinched the ALs best record for the Red Sox with one day to spare in the regular season. "I think everybody was kind of watching," catcher David Ross said. "Demp (Ryan Dempster) came out before he went to the bullpen and was just yelling that they lost. Jaren Jackson Jr. Jersey . Andrew Luck lost his favourite target and the Indianapolis locker room lost one of its most revered leaders when Reggie Wayne was diagnosed Monday with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that will cost him the rest of the season. http://www.cheapjerseysauthenticnba.us/ . At a news conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be back in 2014. Isaac Bonga Jersey .S. -- Nikolaj Ehlers registered a hat trick for the third straight game and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and five assists as the Halifax Mooseheads hammered the host Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 10-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Marvin Bagley Jersey .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals. The NBA announced Thursday evening that the league has opted to move the NBA All-Star Game from Charlotte, North Carolina, in response to ongoing criticism of North Carolinas HB2, a controversial law that most notably requires that people use bathrooms in publicly funded spaces that reflect the gender associated with the biological sex on their birth certificates.The decision has been lauded by LGBTQ advocates as a progressive step by the NBA, especially when organizations such as the NFL and NCAA each had similar opportunities to send messages through moving events, but opted not to.The NBA has exercised strong leadership when it comes to their values of diversity and inclusion, particularly for LGBTQ people, said Shane Windmeyer, executive director of Charlotte based LGBTQ advocacy organization Campus Pride, in a phone interview. The NBA gave fair warning that if North Carolina did not repeal the law, they would not bring their business. They gave them time to do it, and the responsibility really lies at the feet of the legislature.HB2 has come under fire specifically due to its aggressive stance towards discriminating toward transgender individuals, something that North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory still refutes.The sports and entertainment elite, Attorney General Roy Cooper and the liberal media have for months misrepresented our laws and maligned the people of North Carolina simply because most people believe boys and girls should be able to use school bathrooms, locker rooms and showers without the opposite sex present, McCrory said in a statement.However, his statement demonstrates his lack of fundamental understanding about trans people. The continuing attacks on transgender identity, particularly trans women, are rooted in an irrational fear that men will dress as women to gain access to female spaces in the name of transgender inclusion. Not only is there no documented case of that happening anywhere in the country, but his misunderstanding of transgender identity opens up all gender non-conforming people to discrimination. The NBAs announcement is a direct condemnation of the climate created by this law, and a tacit tip of the cap to the transgender community -- something not unnoticed by trans athletes.A lot of organizations say that they value diversity and inclusion, but the NBA has taken a very impactful stance, Chris Mosier, transgender athlete and executive director of GO! Athletes, said via text message. Other organizations should consider following in the NBAs footsteps to protect their athletes and fans. Most notably, I think the NCAA should take a hard look at the future of championship games and events held in the state.Where the NBA decides to put the 2017 All-Star Game, however, is just as important as the decision to remove it from North Carolina. The requirement for being relatively LGBTQ friendly is messy and clearly hasnt been a historical consideration. The NBA has established a far from simple precedent: what is the threshold for discrimination that bars a city from hosting the All-Star Game?Since 2003, the NBA All-Star Game has been held in nine states and one Canadian province. Eight of these states -- Georgia (2003), Colorado (2005), Texas (2006, 2010, 2013), Nevada (2007), Louisianaa (2008, 2014), Arizona (2009), Florida (2012) and New York (2015) -- did not have statewide protections on the basis of gender identity and expression.dddddddddddd And of the cities that played host, only Los Angeles, Denver and New Orleans had local protections for trans people.As the news of this impending announcement from the NBA has been brewing, reports from ESPN and The Vertical indicate that New Orleans is a frontrunner to receive the game. While North Carolina is certainly unfriendly, Louisiana is not exactly a beacon of LGBTQ equality.Even though anti-sodomy laws -- which criminalized sexual activity between same-sex partners -- were declared unconstitutional in 2003 by the Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, Louisiana not only continues to have the statute on the books, but voted overwhelmingly in favor of keeping it there in 2014. Although New Orleans has an LGBTQ anti-discrimination ordinance, Louisiana lacks protections for LGBTQ individuals through statewide legislation. Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards enacted LGBTQ anti-discrimination protections through executive order in April, but those only apply to state contractors.Chicago and New York/Brooklyn have also been named as possibilities, and both Illinois and New York have anti-discrimination statutes that are inclusive of transgender people.The NBA reserves the right to change its mind, and the particular case of the anti-trans aggression within HB2 seemed to be the breaking point of the league. Even with this grandiose move, relocating the All-Star Game still rings a bit hollow when considering the fact that the NBA could do more.Another option for the NBA is to recognize that North Carolina needs help, Windmeyer said. If anything, the NBA could think about how could we help North Carolina get the education and visibility through organizations like Campus Pride and other local and statewide organizations that are living and breathing here?Giving credit where credit is due, the NBA and WNBA are the only two professional leagues to march in a Pride parade as they did in New York in June. The NBA also sold T-shirts for LGBTQ Pride Month, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). The WNBA is the only professional sports league, men or women, with a league-wide LGBTQ Pride initiative, which began in 2014.More, however, still needs to be done. The NBA could require LGBTQ education for all of its coaches, clear down to its youth leagues. The league could also encourage stadiums to include gender-inclusive restrooms with arena renovations. Additionally, the league could enact a transgender inclusive policy for its youth leagues, and push for legislation within states that could make passing these discriminatory provisions more difficult.Moving the All-Star Game is a great step, and hopefully its a sign of things to come from the league. They should be applauded for taking a stand, but frankly it was politically expedient for them to do so. When the league moves beyond the symbolism and into the realm of actionable change, that will be a day to truly celebrate. Chiefs Jerseys China Cheap Nike Chargers Jerseys Cheap Nike Raiders Jerseys Wholesale Cowboys Jerseys China Cheap Nike Giants Jerseys Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys For Sale Wholesale Redskins Jerseys China Cheap Nike Lions Jerseys Packers Jerseys China Cheap Vikings Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Panthers Jerseys Hoodies Cheap Saints Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Nike Buccaneers Jerseys Cardinals Jerseys China Cheap Rams Jerseys Hoodies Cheap Nike 49ers Jerseys Seahawks Jerseys China Bears Jerseys China Cheap Nike Bills Jerseys Ravens Jerseys China Wholesale Falcons Jerseys China ' ' '