Morariu decision came following renewed interest a bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics and Paralympics from France, with whom he has dual nationality with Romania.

Norway's Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen has taken the vacant position on the eight-member Commission after Stoss stepped up to the role of chair.

The Future Host Commission for the Winter Olympics plays a leading role under the IOC's new process for awarding its Games, identifying and proposing its preferred candidate to the Executive Board which can in turn make a recommendation to the Session for approval.

It is faced with an increasing crisis in winter sport given the onset of global warming and a reduction in climate-suitable hosts, with plans to award the 2030 Games this year postponed due to issues with the interested cities and a rotational system under consideration to safeguard the multi-sport event.

Sapporo in Japan, Salt Lake City in the United States and Vancouver in Canada were the known interested parties in the 2030 edition last year, but instead a second consecutive edition in Europe following on from Milan-Cortina 2026 now appears more likely.

A proposal from the French Alps has received backing from the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) and the French Paralympic and Sports Committee (CPSF).

The CNOSF and CPSF revealed their intentions to enter the "continuous dialogue" phase with the IOC regarding a bid from the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.

Morariu has been an IOC member in Romania and President of Rugby Europe since 2013 and chair of the Future Host Commission since its inception in 2019.

He played for ASPTT Paris and coached Paris Saint-Germain during his rugby career, and has dual nationality with France and Romania.

His decision to step down was "to avoid any potential conflict of interest".

Austrian Olympic Committee President Stoss has been a member of the Future Host Commission since 2019, and is also chair of the Olympic Programme Commission.

IOC President Thomas Bach claimed Stoss' experience made him the ideal candidate to succeed Morariu. 

"Karl Stoss brings with him huge experience of winter sports, coming as he does from one of the leading winter sports nations in the world," Bach said. 

"Under his chairmanship, the Commission will be in very safe hands as we continue the dialogue with a number of potential hosts for the Olympic Winter Games 2030 and beyond. 

"I would like to also thank Octavian Morariu for all his dedication and hard work in chairing the Commission since it was created in 2019."

Pyeongchang 2018 women's 4x5 kilometres cross-country skiing relay gold medallist Jacobsen joins Afghanistan's Samira Asghari, Slovakia's Danka Barteková, Panam Sports President Neven Ilic of Chile, China's Zhang Hong and non-IOC members Colin Grahamslaw of Scotland and Rita van Driel of The Netherlands on the Commission.

Morariu's replacement is the latest enforced change on the Commission this year.

Association of National Olympic Committees secretary general Gunilla Lindberg of Sweden suspended her membership after her country declared its interest in the 2030 Games, and stepped down when it entered continuous dialogue with the IOC.

She was replaced by London 2012 women's skeet shooting bronze medallist Barteková.

International Luge Federation President Einars Fogelis temporarily stepped down due to the potential inclusion of Latvia in Sweden's bid, and has been replaced by World Curling Federation secretary general Grahamslaw.

Sapporo looked the favourite to host the 2030 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, but its bid was derailed by the Tokyo 2020 bribery and bid-rigging scandals and subsequent public apathy.

Salt Lake City has made clear its preference to stage the 2034 edition, and Vancouver's proposal collapsed due to a lack of support from the British Columbia Government.

The IOC claimed last month six countries are interested in hosting a future edition of the Winter Olympics and Paralympics.