It follows an appeal filed by his rival Isidoros Kouvelos after he was taken to hospital on the morning of the vote in Athens and was consequently unable to participate.

A call from Greece's International Olympic Committee (IOC) honorary member Lambis Nikolaou for the election to be postponed as a result of Kouvelos' absence was rejected.

Capralos subsequently received all 14 votes cast out of the 25-strong electorate in a ballot boycotted by many of his absent opponent's allies.

Supporters of Capralos speculated whether Kouvelos, also President of the International Olympic Academy until this year, had a genuine reason to go to hospital or whether he was using it as a strategy to force a delay.

But the Council of State ruled against the election winner.

"The Council of State of Greece, ruling on the application filed by 13 HOC members against the procedure for establishing the new HOC Administration, which took place on February 6, accepted all their positions declaring void and unlawful the above elections," their verdict read.

"The meeting of the Plenary Session of February 6 was null and void, as it took place in breach of the explicit decision for postponement for reasons of force majeure, taken by Lambis Nikolaou, honorary member of the IOC for Greece and interim HOC President, which was duly notified to all HOC members.

"The election of Spyros Capralos to the position of HOC President and elections of the other persons to their offices, in that irregular meeting, are null and void and therefore all their appointments are overturned."

It was also ruled that climbing and karate have a "legitimate interest" to appeal against their absence from the election as they had been "legally invited" to participate by Nikolaou.

"As soon as circumstances permit it, the HOC shall hold lawful elections to appoint the new administration, restoring legality and the smooth operation of the HOC itself and all the commissions in the sector of Greek sports, the International Olympic Academy, as well as its representation in international institutional bodies," the Council of State verdict concluded.

This marks the latest in a series of internal disputes within a National Olympic Committee broadly similar to other ongoing cases in Kuwait and Kenya.

A key area of disagreement concerns whether Nikolaou has the authority to call for the election to be postponed given that he is only an honorary member of the IOC after passing the maximum age limit of 80 in 2015.

The HOC Statutes gives such power to the country's "senior IOC member", but Greece does not currently have an active one.

At present, the HOC is effectively unable to function as an active body due to the absence of leadership.

This will have a significant impact on work including preparations for the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Flamelighting Ceremony in Ancient Olympia due to take place later this year.

"We are aware that a decision was taken by the Court but are waiting for a copy of the official decision before making any further comments," said an IOC spokesperson.

Neither Capralos nor the HOC have yet responded to insidethegames' requests for a comment.

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 appointed to a similar position for the Minsk 2019 edition in January.

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

Both figures are considered contenders for the vacant Greek IOC member position.