GAISF has aimed to be the voice for its 128 members, associate members and observers but will now been consigned to history.

There were strong calls to save GAISF, with the International Life Saving Federation (ILS) doing its best to perform a late rescue act.

But the 55-year-old umbrella body for Olympic and non-Olympic sport failed to survive a vote at the organisation’s Extraordinary General Assembly.

It proved to be emphatic, with 70 of the 92 votes cast going in favour of the proposal to abolish GAISF before Swiss legal firm Ernst and Young SA was appointed as the liquidator to perform the winding up process.

There were a few seconds of silence in the room as members came to terms with the decision before a ripple of applause broke out inside the largely darkened room at the SwissTech Convention Center in Lausanne.

"Goodbye GAISF" read a message from Attila Adamfi, vice-president and acting secretary general of the International Weightlifting Federation, on social media as International Federations (IF) bid farewell to the umbrella body which had served them since it was founded in 1967.

A decision was also taken at the meeting to transfer all of GAISF’s CHF5.66 million (£4.9 million/$6 million/€5.74 million) fortune to SportAccord with 79 members polling in favour and 11 against.

The Association of International Olympic Committee Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF), Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF), Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations (AIOWF) and Alliance of Independent Recognised Members of Sport (AIMS) are set to receive a slice of GAISF’s assets.

But did the IFs know exactly what they were voting for?

A letter was issued to GAISF President Ivo Ferriani by the International Orienteering Federation (IOF) just hours before the vote, urging the Italian official to delay the decision.

The IOF argued that there were "a number of unanswered and unclarified questions" that needed to be resolved, claiming that there was a lack of transparency over SportAccord’s statutes and details on how associate members would be included in the new structure.

"We strongly feel that in the interest of good governance [postponing the vote] is the right thing to do," said the IOF letter obtained by insidethegames.

ILS secretary general Harald Vervaecke was among those to raise concerns over the fact that GAISF members had not been presented with a draft constitution of the new-look SportAccord.

"I think the whole thing is power and money driven, and I don’t feel comfortable that we give away an organisation that assembles all sports to a company which is vague and not even known," said Vervaecke when speaking at the ARISF General Assembly on the eve of the GAISF EGA.

"We have a powerful position, and we just give it away to a company that is fake and has no constitution.

"If I would do that in my federation, they would immediately expel me."

Considering the magnitude of the decision that is set to change the shape of the sporting structure, it seems only right that GAISF members should be given details on what they were signing up for.

Instead, members were presented with a four-page letter, entitled "The Dissolution and Winding-Up of GAISF and Reorganisation of SportAccord".

The letter addressed seven topics including the admission of ARISF and AIMS as members, the new composition of the SportAccord Executive Committee, the organisation of multi-sport Games and the participation of GAISF associate members.

SportAccord’s new Membership Commission, the allocation of revenue to SportAccord stakeholders and the allocation of other GAISF activities were also set out in the letter.

"The restricting of SportAccord has its core objective to better the International Federations and the world of sports in a modern, efficient manner through a leaner and more productive organisation," the letter reads.

SportAccord is led by Ferriani who also heads up AIOWF and the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation.

Ferriani is joined by ASIOF President Francesco Ricci Bitti, International Equestrian Federation leader Ingmar de Vos and International Ice Hockey Federation counterpart Luc Tardiff on the SportAccord Executive Committee.

All four umbrella organisations are set to be represented on the new top table, with three from ASOIF, two from both AIOWF and ARISF and one from AIMS.

SportAccord is also set to create a new Membership Commission, featuring five members with one appointed from each of ASOIF, AIOWF, ARISF and AIMS and another by the IOC.

According to SportAccord’s letter, the group will serve as an "entry point to the international sports movement for International Federations" through AIMS.

Rivalry disputes between IFs seeking admission is another area that the Membership Commission is expected to handle and resolve.

The SportAccord Executive Committee has also vowed to allocate the organisation’s "freely disposable revenues" to support "specific projects" conducted by the umbrella organisations, with 42 per cent going to ASOIF, 30 per cent to ARISF, 18 per cent to AIOWF and 10 per cent to AIMS.

It is now up to SportAccord to deliver on those promises as IFs await to see the new structure take shape with little concretely put in place.

"It is a reasonable question - why haven’t you shown us the statutes," said Martin Gibbs, acting managing director of SportAccord when responding to concerns at the ARISF General Assembly.

"We thought what is the sensible thing to do in these circumstances?

"We thought let’s give you a binding letter from SportAccord saying this is the shape of the new organisation should you agree to dissolution.

"We could have written some statutes.

"It would not have been very difficult and there is nothing to hide but just to reassure you in total faith that we have got an Executive Committee meeting booked for Thursday (tomorrow).

"I have got a list of documents that need to be drafted and shaped if dissolution goes ahead."

But question marks remain over why statutes were not proposed to GAISF members to consider before agreeing on the dissolution.

"If we disband GAISF, there will be nothing in place," said Vervaecke at the ARISF General Assembly.

"To create SportAccord, have a consensus on statutes and then afterwards disband [GAISF], otherwise you go into a new empty system."

Before the vote, ARISF President Raffaele Chiulli, who led GAISF between 2018 and 2021, spoke glowingly about the prospect of the umbrella organisations moving into what he described as a "new house" under SportAccord.

It was like Chiulli had suddenly morphed into a sharp-suited estate agent yearning for a sale.

More than two-thirds of GAISF members took up the offer but let’s hope they will not be left to rue their decision for the sake of the sports movement and the voices of IFs, big or small, will be heard within the new set-up.