International Olympic Committee member Lambis Nikolaou of Greece has denied suggestions he was involved in an alleged voting mix-up that may have helped London win the bid to host the 2012 Games.
In a statement Wednesday, the vice president of the Greek Olympic Committee said the speculation surrounding his role in the third round of voting for the 2012 candidates is totally unfounded.
A senior Olympic official, Alex Gilady of Israel, last week suggested that Nikolaou had accidentally voted for Paris rather than Madrid in the third round, giving Paris a two-vote advantage and eliminating the Spanish capital.
But Nikolaou said he did not vote in that round.
Gilady said without the alleged mixup, each city would have had 32 votes, forcing a tiebreaker. There was speculation that Madrid would have defeated Paris in a head-to-head vote, advancing the Spanish capital to the final round against London. Some believe Madrid would have done better against London than Paris, which lost the final vote 54-50.
Some information for this report provided by AFP and AP.
