A court in Brazil has granted that Irishman Kevin Mallon can have his passport back on the same conditions as those laid down for Pat Hickey last week.
He must pay a bond of one and a half million Brazilian reals (€418,000), and commit to full compliance with the ongoing legal process, including a return to Brazil, as required.
Mr Mallon and former Olympic Council of Ireland president Hickey were arrested in Rio de Janeiro during the Olympic Games in August, amid accusations of ticket touting, and both have remained in Brazil since then.
Their passports remain with Rio officials, preventing their return to Ireland.
Last Wednesday evening, Justice Juliana Leal de Melo, presiding judge at Rio's Special Court for Supporters and Large Events, which had jurisdiction during the Olympics, decided that Mr Hickey's passport could be returned, on medical grounds.
Late last night, Justice Silvia Regina Portes Criscuolo, who is temporarily sitting at the Special Court, said the same bond and conditions could be awarded to Mr Mallon.
She cited an earlier decision made by colleague Judge Leal de Melo, to that effect.
Franklin Gomes, Kevin’s Mallon's Sao Paulo based lawyer, said the bond amount was "very high", considering that his client is "just a staff member [of THG Sports]".
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He said bond amounts should "depend on the reality on those accused".
Mr Gomes will ask the court to consider "other alternatives" to the payment of the bond, saying: "Kevin doesn't have access to resources like that. We will try to work with other alternatives."
He said he will speak with his client by telephone later this evening, to discuss same, and will visit him in Rio early next week.
Mr Gomes insists that Mr Mallon has not engaged in any illegal activity, and "has no interest to run away from this process," describing the case against his client as "very fragile".
He said that Mr Mallon has "a right to be with his family, and has a right to work", adding that even condemned criminals in Brazil are allowed temporary release at Christmas time to be with their families.
"Kevin is accused, he has not been tried. He has fully cooperated at all times with the process here, and will continue to do so."
Mr Mallon was arrested on the eve of the Olympic games, in a hotel in a west Rio suburb, on allegations of ticket touting.
The THG Sports accountant spent more than three weeks in Bangu maximum-security prison, where he shared a cell with Mr Hickey.
A Supreme Court decision in Brasilia led to his release after 22 days, on certain conditions.
He has remained in a beachside neighbourhood in Rio since then, signing on at a local court on the 20th of each month, obeying a daily curfew of 10pm.
Mr Hickey resides nearby, subject to the same bail conditions and curfew.
