Joining Pieth on the Panel is Akere Muna, an Independent Sanctions Commissioner at the African Development Bank (CMR), and Don Mackinnon, managing partner at New Zealand-based employment law firm SBM Legal.

They have all been appointed following a recruitment process in which 37 people were consulted.

The IAAF says a fundamental pillar of its reforms approved in December of last year was the need for an independent panel of experts to oversee and assess the eligibility of new and existing officials being put forward for, or continuing to serve in, roles at the Association

The panellists are required to be independent of the IAAF, with experience in screening applicants and candidates for appointments to official positions.

"This panel of independent experts is central to the increased focus of our organisation on matters of good governance and reflects our commitment to ensuring that all IAAF officials are persons of the highest standards of conduct and integrity," IAAF President Sebastian Coe said.

"I am delighted with the calibre of applications and the depth of discussion we have had and welcome the panel on board for what will be an extremely important function for the future of our sport.

"Although disappointed that none of the female candidates kept themselves in for the final round, I am encouraged by the conversations we have had with some of the initial applicants and we will look to expand the panel in the future."

The inaugural panel has been appointed to act until the 2019 IAAF Congress.

From then on, the panel will be composed of three persons approved by the IAAF Congress at each Election Congress, which takes place every four years.

Pieth is a professor of criminal law and the founder and chair of the Basel Institute of Governance in Switzerland.

He has served on the Integrity Advisory Board of the World Bank and was a member of the Independent Committee set up to revise financial practices in Panama.

As well as being the CMR Independent Sanctions Commissioner, Muna is also chair of the International Anti-Corruption Conference.

He also sits on the Governance Board of the Africa Governance Institute and previously served for 10 years as vice-chair of Transparency International, where he was also chair of its Ethics Committee.

Mackinnon has extensive experience working in the governance of different sports, including cricket, netball, rugby league and rugby union and currently chairs a number of appointment panels in sport.

In December, Coe saw members of the IAAF Special Congress vote in his far-reaching reforms by 182 votes to 10 after urging delegates at the start of the meeting to protect the future of their sport.

Referring to a year in which athletics had been mired in allegations of corruption that saw former IAAF President Lamine Diack become the subject of a French police investigation, Coe told the 197 delegates at the start of the meeting: "We cannot let this happen again.

"We must protect our sport."

Coe's chief of staff at the IAAF, Nick Davies, was expelled from his role at the world governing body last month over a €30,000 (£25,000/$32,000) payment, even though he was cleared of corruption and was praised for supporting for the organisation's anti-doping efforts. 

His wife Jane Boulter-Davies and medical manager Pierre-Yves Garnier were also handed sanctions by the IAAF Ethics Board, but were allowed to return to work.

They were also cleared of corruption.

Davies admitted to two charges, leading to the official having being expelled from his role at the IAAF.

The cases emerged due to a suspected ethics breach in relation to an email reported to have been sent by Papa Massata Diack to his father Lamine.

The email, dated July 29 in 2013, purportedly claims that Valentin Balakhnichev - the former IAAF treasurer and Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) President, who has since been banned for life by the Ethics Commission - had asked Papa Massata Diack to carry out "lobbying activities".