Australian Olympic athletes have each been fined $4000 after they tried to get into a venue they were not accredited for.

The athletes were taken to a police station after trying to enter the basketball arena to watch a semi-final game between Australia and Serbia.

Brazilian police allege the athletes had tampered with their accreditation to gain access to the venue.

The group was taken into custody on Friday night (local time) and an Australian lawyer was with them while they were questioned at a police station, where they stayed for several hours.

At 2:30am, the athletes were taken to a small courthouse, where Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) CEO Fiona de Jong “apologised and explained that the athletes were supporting their teammates [and] not trying to defraud anyone,” according to a statement from the organisation.

The AOC said cycling bronze medalist Matthew Glaetzer was detained as a witness but was not charged.

The AOC confirmed nine of the athletes were charged with falsifying a document. They were:

• Ashlee Ankudinoff – cycling
• Melissa Hoskins – cycling
• Ed Jenkins – rugby
• Alec Potts – archery
• Ryan Tyack – archery
• Olympia Aldersey – rowing
• Fiona Albert – rowing
• Lucy Stephan – rowing
• Simon Orchard – hockey

In the statement, the AOC said the athletes were given an expedited hearing that resulted “in each athlete being given a two-year good behaviour bond and a $4,000 fine”.

“No criminal conviction would be recorded and any record of the proceeding would be expunged after two years.

“The athlete’s passports have been retained by the court pending payment of the fine, at which time they will be returned and the athletes will be free to leave Brazil.”

The group of athletes is led to the courthouse:

Sevens captain Ed Jenkins about the only recognisable athlete among 10 being taken to courthouse. So very strange pic.twitter.com/beTC1sPWdD

— Jon Ralph (@RalphyHeraldSun) August 20, 2016

Officials for the Rio 2016 organising committee were not available for comment.

Officials newly-focussed on security

Olympic security efforts were renewed this week after US swimmer Ryan Lochte alleged he was robbed at gunpoint along with two other athletes.

Rio police initiated an investigation into the incident and after finding holes in Lochte’s story, ordered his passport be confiscated.

The robbery story of swimmer Ryan Lochte raised questions. Photo: Getty

But the champion swimmer had already left the country, and later issued an apology for not being entirely “candid” about the incident, which allegedly involved himself and two others vandalising a Rio service station toilet.

It also hasn’t been an easy Olympics for chef de mission Kitty Chiller, who this week woke to find two athletes missing from her Australian team.

Swimmers Emma McKeon and Josh Palmer raised the alarm in the Olympic village after not returning home after a night out on the town.

McKeon claimed she had forgotten to mention she was staying with friends, while Palmer was discovered by businessmen the next morning after allegedly being robbed.

Outstanding performer Emma McKeon had her punishment overturned. Photo: Getty

After initially imposing a closing ceremony ban on the pair, Chiller overturned the decision for medal-winning McKeon after she wrote an apparently-impressive apology.

“The tone and content of her letter, and her conversation with me, proved to me that she now very much understands the seriousness of our safety protocols,” Chiller told media.

“She now understands the seriousness of her breach and how that placed her in jeopardy and all I was ever doing was trying to protect Emma and the 420 other athletes in our team.”