You are in > manchester.com  > News > IOC member denies voting error

Athletics

IOC member denies voting error

28/12/2005

The man at the centre of a scandal surrounding the vote that handed London the 2012 Olympics has denied making a mistake.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Lambis Nikolaou said he did not vote during the crucial third round when Paris knocked out Madrid.

Last week, a senior IOC member said that one of his colleagues had voted for Paris by mistake.

Had Paris been knocked out in the third round London would have been up against Madrid in the final round of voting meaning that the Spanish capital may well have won the right to host the Games.

Alex Gilady's comments led to widespread speculation that either Nikolaou had pressed the wrong button or that his vote had been incorrectly recorded.

The long delay before the result of the third round was announced in Singapore had added weight to the suggestion that there was some kind of error.

But speaking out for the first time since the story broke, Nikolaou has denied making a mistake, saying instead that he did not vote at all.

"I was the only one of the 104 members who did not vote," he said in a statement.

London won the race to host the 2012 Olympics at a ceremony in Singapore in July.

© Adfero Ltd