Ousted HOC President Calling for Immediate Elections

(ATR) The previous president of the Hellenic Olympic Committee Spyros Capralos says a delay in elections creates an "administrative vacuum."

Last week a Greek court ruled that the February HOC elections were void, abruptly annulling Capralos’ third term. Capralos had won reelection with 14 votes out of a total of 27 possible votes, according to the ruling. The ruling stated two federations, climbing and karate, were invited to participate in the elections, but are not full members of the HOC.

Only a Greek IOC member can call an election for the HOC, but for the first time since 1894 there is no such member. Thus, honorary IOC member Lambis Nikolaou is the only one able to honor those duties.

Capralos says that Nikolaou should "immediately proceed in convening the HOC," to settle the dispute.

"14 heads of national sports [federations] in Greece constituting the majority in the HOC Council, demand that elections take place without delay," Capralos wrote in a statement on Twitter. "I've asked Nikolaou, IOC honorary member, to immediately proceed in convening the HOC elective general assembly per his duty.

"Should Mr. Nikolaou not wish to fulfill his role anymore, he should inform the IOC accordingly. Delay tactics prolong the administrating vacuum, blocking the HOC from fulfilling its obligation to properly support Greek athletes, and in 3 months the Olympic Flame will be lit for the 2018 Olympics in Ancient Olympia. It requires our perfect planning and delivery."

The day of the vote, challenger Isidoros Kouvelos suddenly went to the hospital setting in motion events for the dispute. Some in Greece have said that the actions taken by Kouvelos were a political maneuver, not one borne out of a serious health concern. Kouvelos supporters deny those claims.

On short notice Nikolaou called for a postponement of the election with 13 out of the 27 federations loyal to Kouvelos withdrawing. The other 14 federations, constituting a majority, remained and voted for Capralos, who accepted victory.

The court’s ruling stated that Nikolaou’s postponement was legal and the election must be overturned. Kouvelos told Around the Ringsafter the decision that his "feelings were mixed" over the court case, but is happy to see new elections.

In addition to calling for immediate elections, Capralos released a letter he had sent to Nikolaou. The letter asked Nikolaou to clarify within 48 hours if he were continuing as interim president of the HOC.

Nikolaou retired from the IOC at age 80 in 2015 and the IOC has yet to nominate a new member in Greece. Kouvelos and Caparalos are both believed to be jockeying for the nomination, heightening the importance for the election.

Both sides in the dispute have lobbied accusations at the other for the way the situation has been handled. Opponents of Kouvelos say that his allies are using delay tactics in a last ditch effort to secure needed votes. Opponents of Capralos say that the election easily could have been held in late February and current leadership is working to install a friendly interim president.

An IOC spokesperson said in a statement to ATR that the body has been informed of the court decision, and is working on next steps needed. When asked if the IOC would give a deadline for when elections much take place, a spokesperson told ATR to speak with the HOC directly, "especially on the timeline."

Homepage photo: Wikimedia Commons

Written by Aaron Bauer

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