Kouvelos, who also relinquished his Presidency of the International Olympic Academy (IOA) today, claimed to have been taken to hospital on the morning of the vote in Athens.

His ally, Greece's International Olympic Committee (IOC) honorary member Lambis Nikolaou, consequently called for the ballot to be rearranged.

This call was rejected by those present and Capralos, who had been favoured to win anyway, received all 14 of the votes cast out of the 25 member electorate.

Many of Kouvelos' supporters did not vote in protest.

Kouvelos is the brother-in-law of Evaggelos Marinakis, the owner and President of Greek football giants Olympiakos.

Capralos made clear afterwards that in no country could you justify postponing an election just because someone had supposedly been taken to hospital.

"This is confirmation that Greek sport is behind me," he added to insidethegames.

"These are difficult times for the country economically, but our priority remains preserving Greek athletes and Greek sport."

Manolis Kolibadis, President of the Hellenic Table Tennis Federation, was also elected as the new HOC general secretary.

European Taekwondo Union (ETU) secretary general Michail Fysentzidis replaced Kouvelos as head of the IOA.

Capralos represented Greece in water polo at two Olympics, Moscow in 1980 and Los Angeles in 1984.

He has led the HOC since 2009.

He is chairman of Star Bulk Carriers Corp, a Nasdaq-listed shipping company.

Capralos also sits on the Executive Committee of the European Olympic Committees and served as chair of the Coordination Commission for the Baku 2015 European Games.

He was last month appointed to a similar position for the Minsk 2019 edition.

The 61-year-old now appears favourite for the vacant Greek IOC member position after Nikolaou passed the maximum age limit in 2015.

Kouvelos was also seen as his main rival for that role.

Capralos' only stumbling block may be his naming in a Sunday Times article shortly before London 2012 in connection with alleged ticketing scams.

He allegedly told undercover reporters that he had "pulled strings" with Olympic organisers to obtain extra premium tickets which would be available outside Greece. 

He criticised the reports as untrue and "misleading", although the IOC Ethics Commission claimed he had caused "damage to the reputation of the Olympic Movement".