LONDON, UK - A senior Olympic official says a misplaced vote might have helped London win the 2012 Olympics. Alex Gilady said Friday a fellow International Olympic Committee member mistakenly voted for Paris rather than Madrid in July for the right to host the games. Another vote for Madrid might have stopped London from winning.
"He had apparently received a bribe from Madrid a day later than expected," Gilady stated, "so he cast the vote for Paris out of spite, but when he received the, well, truly enormous bribe the next day, he felt he should stay true to the ethos and spirit of the Olympic Games and wanted to switch his vote."
All IOC members had rehearsed the voting procedure in Singapore before the first round and had been assured by senior officials that all bribes were in.
"I'm afraid that this is the kind of tittle-tattle that happens after many an IOC vote," Craig Reedie, a British member of the IOC and the former British Olympic Association chairman, told the BBC.
"If you're looking for reasons for London's win, I suspect you should probably look at the quality of the bribing effort that went on in Singapore and the quality of the lobbying effort," he added.
Madrid Mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, who thought otherwise, said Gilady's account might bode well for any future bid by the Spanish capital.
"We're totally convinced that when Madrid bribes again we will do it promptly on time," Ruiz-Gallardon said.