In his first public interview since he was detained in the Brazilian city, the 72-year-old Irishman claims he was deliberately "humiliated" by the manner of his arrest.

He also dismissed suggestions from the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) that his arrest in Rio had cost the organisation a total of €1.5 million (£1.3 million/$1.7 million).

Hickey, who has stood down from his role as President European Olympic Committees (EOC) and is self-suspended from his International Olympic Committee (IOC) roles, was charged with various ticketing offences,

They reportedly include criminal organisation, ticket touting, ambush marketing, larceny, money laundering and tax evasion. 

Hickey was briefly held in a high security prison before being detained under a house arrest.

Hickey denies all charges against him and told Newstalk Breakfast his legal team are "working flat out" to clear his name following the "extraordinary set of events" during Rio 2016.

He has accused Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross of "scarpering" from Rio following his arrest.

"In the short term he was in office, I’ve always had a good relationship with him as a Minister of Sport," said Hickey.

"I do note, and I checked this with my colleagues in the OCI, he never made any enquiries into my condition.

"I would have thought that a Minister of Sport - and I’m one of the highest office holders of sport in Ireland - that he would have taken due care and attention to look after a fellow citizen and a fellow human, and to show some humanity. 

"But, as I said, he scarpered back home, and I was left to my own devices with my legal team to set me free."

Asked whether he felt abandoned by Irish authorities, he replied "totally, totally" and claimed he would have liked to have had more Government representation on his behalf.

Hickey also claimed the circumstances surrounding his arrest were orchestrated by police to ensure maximum coverage and embarrassment.

"There's no doubt about it - the arrest was a humiliation on my behalf at six o'clock in the morning at my hotel bedroom," Hickey added.

"To open the door to the full glare of the world's media was just incredible. 

"This was sold on by the police that they were going to arrest me, the media didn't arrive there by accident."

Hickey is back in Ireland and is still awaiting a court date in Rio de Janeiro.

Little progress appears to have been made in this respect, however, and a trial does not seem to be forthcoming.

"The judge of the high court of Brazil said I should never, ever have been arrested and put in prison," Hickey said.

"Lots of people said many things about me when I was away. 

"My legal team have kept a record and a track of everything.

"When I clear my name, I’ll spend some time reading over all those."

Sarah Keane, who succeeded Hickey as OCI President after he stepped down following 28 years in charge, has claimed that the organisation was still paying Hickey's legal costs and that the last year had been "extremely costly" for the governing body.

"My reaction to that is that that is not correct," said Hickey.

"There is full insurance cover at the moment for my costs - and the impression the media give is that I was the sole cost of this spend of €1.5 million.

"I've been able to establish after I was arrested in Rio, the Executive Committee created a Crisis Management Committee - which consisted of three people - and they had powers of expenditure.

"The €1.5 million was done without my knowledge, I know nothing about it - this was done by the Crisis Management Committee.

"It's just that the media gave the impression that I was the cause of that cost."

Hickey added: "I've been President for nearly 30 years, and in the course of time you do make enemies and you do activities that people might not be happy with - and this was a great opportunity for them to come out and criticise me.

"I was portrayed as some sort of a world-class criminal that I was in some mafiosa conspiracy or something like that.

"The IOC are fully backing me and fully supporting me in this crazy situation that I find myself in."

Hickey remains a suspended member of the IOC Executive Board and as first vice-president of ANOC, as well as the EOC.

He is expected to be replaced as the EOC President when his latest four-year term comes to an end at their General Assembly, scheduled to take place in Zagreb on November 24 and 25.

Acting EOC President Janez Kocijančič told insidethegames that the EOC do not expect the legal proceedings against Hickey to be completed before the election, meaning a new President will be chosen.

Hickey has been President of the EOC since 2006.