Greek International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Lambis Nikolaou, who has been accused of accidentally helping London win the bid for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games because of a voting error, is denying that he voted in the crucial third round of the election.
In a statement released Wednesday Nikolaou said, “the speculation concerning my role during the third voting round in the 2012 (host) city elections are completely without foundation. I did not vote in the third round, something I had already announced during the procedure”.
Last week Israeli IOC member Alex Gilady told BBC News that London only won the bid for the 2012 Games because of a misplaced vote which happened when a vote was cast for Paris instead of Madrid resulting in Madrid’s elimination.
London then beat Paris 54-50 in the final round of voting although it is widely believed that Madrid would have been a bigger threat to London had it got through to the final round.
Nikolaou told a Greek sports Web site “it would be impossible to make a mistake because very simply I was the only one of the 104 members who did not vote. I don’t understand how I found myself being accused and maybe it all started with a mistake by Mr. Gilady”.
Nikolaou said Gilady has sent him a letter apologizing for the furore he had caused.
Gilady also told the Web site he had never named Nikolaou. “Never, never did I say that Mr. Nikolaou had made the mistake. I am absolutely certain of that. I never said it was Nikolaou and I strongly deny ever saying it”.
Meanwhile the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued a statement supporting Nikolaou’s side of the story saying, “104 voting boxes were distributed to the members eligible to vote, 103 votes were cast, one IOC member did not vote, no abstentions were recorded, no votes were voided”.
