Eliasch, who defeated three other candidates to win a landslide election last June to complete the term of retiring long-time incumbent Gian-Franco Kasper, gained 70 out of 100 votes, but a number of delegates from some of skiing's major countries left the meeting room at the Allianz Tower in the Italian city before voting began claiming the process was "undemocratic".

Croatia's Vedran Pavlek acted as spokesman during the Congress, leading a group of 15 National Associations, including Austria, Germany and Switzerland, who had sent a letter backing the option of voting yes, no or abstaining.

Pavlek was told by the FIS electoral director Stephan Netzle that "a valid ballot is a ballot which contains the name or names of the candidates for the open slots.

"There is no yes and no.

"If you do not want to support the name on the ballot then you can simply abstain."

Pavlek replied: "In this case we are not in accordance with democratic process.

"Delegates can only express the opinion 'yes'.

"So I am asking all those in agreement with me to leave the room."

The German Ski Federation (DSV) was among countries who made their dissatisfaction public about the re-election of Eliasch, only the fifth President in the 98-year history of the FIS. 

Schwarzbach remained angry after the re-election of the 60-year-old Eliasch, the Swedish-born billionaire who is now based in London and is a British citizen, and threatened that the dissatisfied Federations could take the matter further.

"An election in which delegates had only one option to vote validly, namely to vote yes, does not correspond to our understanding of the law and is only a farce," Schwarzbach said.

"In the opinion of our legal experts, such an approach does not comply with Swiss association law. 

"Along with many other Member Associations, we made this clear in writing before the election. 

"After our candidacy was not approved, the DSV, together with other associations, did not participate in the election.

"As also announced in advance in writing, we are now having the entire process checked and we reserve the right to take legal action."

Bernhard Aregger, the managing director of Swiss Ski, confirmed that they are already investigating whether they can take action to get Eliasch's re-election invalidated.

At the heart of the discontent of the major ski nations is Eliasch's plan to centralise the marketing of FIS World Cup events, stripping Member Associations of the rights.

Eliasch, whose 70 votes is only five more than he earned last year, shrugged off the row afterwards having received a standing ovation from the remaining Federations left in the room.

"I have a duty to ensure the welfare of all associations - not just the privileged few," the former chief executive of sporting goods company Head said.

"I want to thank the FIS Family for their support and trust. 

"The past year has shown that this can, and must, only be the beginning. 

"I am grateful and excited for this clear mandate to continue our path to lead snow sports into a bright and successful future."

Vyalbe, a triple Olympic cross-country skiing champion, was elected to the FIS Council last year but her recent support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine brought calls from a number of European Ski Federations objecting to her participation in the latest election.

Her nomination was publicly opposed by the representatives of Sweden, Poland and Finland.

Russian and Belarusian athletes were suspended from participating in competitions under the auspices of the FIS in March.

Vyalbe eventually earned 48 votes out of 115 - the lowest total, and insufficient to keep her on the Council.

Also voted off was the FIS vice-president Dexter Paine, the American who had chaired the meeting and was considered one of Eliasch's main allies. 

Eliasch also lost another important supporter, Austria's Peter Schröcksnadel, who at the age of 80 had decided not to seek re-election to the FIS Council and was replaced by Patrick Ortlieb, the 1992 Olympic downhill champion. 

In other decisions, delegates approved changing the official name of FIS to include the word "Snowboard".

The new name of the organisation is the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, although the acronym of the organisation will remain FIS.

Congress also voted to include in the Olympic programme a women's Nordic combined, paired mogul and mixed ski cross competitions in freestyle and mixed competitions in snowboarding in parallel slalom.

The Saudi, Uruguayan and Thai associations were given associate membership, and full membership was granted to the United Arab Emirates and Slovakia, where the Ski Association of Slovakia replaces the Slovakia Ski Association.