It was reported on Friday that a voting blunder awarded the summer games to the English capital rather than Madrid, as Greece's International Olympic Committee member Lambis Nikolaou hit the wrong button when casting his vote.

Alex Gilady of the IOC's London 2012 co-ordination commission has revealed the blunder.

He claimed the mistake came in the third round when Mr Nikolaou mistakenly voted for Paris rather than Madrid, giving Paris 33 votes and Madrid 31, sending the French capital into the final run-off poll against London.

Had he voted for Madrid as intended, the Spanish capital and Paris would have been tied on 32, prompting a vote-off between the two to enter the final two.

From there, it was expected everyone who supported London would have voted for Madrid in order to deny Paris, which was the pre-poll favourite.

That would have led to Madrid facing London in the final vote, in which all those who had backed Paris would have likely then supported Madrid, seeing it win the 2012 event.

Asked about the truth of Mr Gilady's accusation, Mr Nikolaou said "I would rather not comment about this. Merry Christmas".

"This is what you call good fortune and good luck," Mr Gilady said.

The IOC was reportedly set to quiz Mr Gilady about the claims.