Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) President Francesco Ricci Bitti believes such restrictions are "definitely" a good idea after identifying a correlation between term limits and better governance.

Hungary's Tamas Aján was re-elected for the fifth time as President of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) in May having first assumed the post in 2000. 

Mexico's Olegario Vazquez Raña is now serving a ninth term and 37th year as International Shooting Sport Federation head after first assuming the position in 1980.

Germany's Klaus Schormann has already served 24 years as President of the International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM) after being re-elected for a seventh time last year.

Ricci Bitti cities a recommendation for term limits proposed in ASOIF's recent Governance Task Force (GTF) report.

"Regarding term limits for IF Presidents, I am definitely supportive," the Italian told insidethegames.

"During my term as ITF (International Tennis Federation) President, I introduced term limits and this really does promote better governance. 

"Our GTF report demonstrated that IFs (International Federations) with term limits for their Presidents tend to have higher marks in good governance overall than those who don’t. 

"There is an acknowledgement that IFs require good leadership, but that they are stronger when not reliant upon individuals.

"I am pleased to say that the trend is towards their introduction with six IFs having introduced term limits since London 2012. 

"I hope that this will be a matter for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other sporting bodies to consider."

Ricci Bitti served as President of the ITF for 16-years from 1999 until he stood down in 2015. 

World governing bodies, including the International Association of Athletics Federations, International Cycling Union (UCI) and football body FIFA have all introduced maximum limits of three four year terms in recent years

The International Volleyball Federation also have a 12-year limit, but with a first term of eight years and a second of four.

The International Swimming Federation, however, relaxed their limits from two to three terms alongside a scrapping of age limit rules in 2015 in order to allow current President Julio Maglione, from Uruguay, to stand for another term in office this year.

Many others have no such limits.

Having term limits avoids power becoming two centred around one individual, it is thought, serving to encourage more innovation and balance of power among members as well as the leadership.

Some figures believe that term limits serve to disrupt a governing body and avoid stability.

Few National Olympic Committees or related continental bodies have any sort of term limit.

It is seen as very hard to unseat a sitting President at an election due to the advantages they hold in controlling funding and other appointments.

Denmark's Kim Andersen did unseat Italian Carlo Croce as World Sailing President last year and Britain's Brian Cookson also defeated incumbent Ireland's Pat McQuaid in the 2013 race to lead the UCI. 

Some International Federation Presidents are also thought to be tempted to remain in office for longer in order to retain their IOC membership.

Egypt's Hassan Moustafa has served 17 years as International Handball Federation since 2000.

Other to have served 12 or more years in office are South Korea's Chungwon Choue at World Taekwondo and Turkey's Uğur Erdener at World Archery.

Choue was elected for a fourth term last month after first assuming the post in 2004.

IOC vice-president Erdener has been in office since 2005.

Many Presidents of Winter Olympic Federations have also served long and unrestricted terms.

IOC President Thomas Bach also implied his support for age limits when asked about Ajan's re-election.

"This is a democratic election and we have to respect the outcome," Bach said last month.

"The IOC has term limits of 12 years and me have seen other Federations following this path. 

"It may not come as a surprise that, in this respect, the IOC has taken an intelligent decision."

An IOC President serves an eight-year first term following by a possible four-year second.

Ricci Bitti has also praised International Federations for the progress he believes they have made regarding governance.

"The responses from all IFs to the ASOIF GTF work have been remarkable," he told insidethegames.

"Their efforts in addressing this is not just lip service but is real and concrete. 

"They can be measured which is exactly what we are doing. 

"We will begin our second evaluation towards the end of this year and we expect to see that important strides forward will have been made. 

"I am really proud of the IFs and the work of the GTF in this respect. 

"It has been widely recognised, including by the public authorities like the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development."

Ricci Bitti, 75, is currently serving the second of a maximum three terms as ASOIF President after first being elected in 2013.