It is believed he will quit his post as head coach after the European Championships in Liverpool next month due to his dissatisfaction with the current shake-up in the sport.

Edwards, who guided British boxers in Beijing to one gold and two bronze medals, has been left feeling undermined by political interests.

A major overhaul of the amateur set-up spearheaded by former Sport England chairman Derek Mapp has left Edwards facing the prospect of being shunted aside.

A short-list is already being drawn up for the position of performance director with the newly constituted British Amateur Boxing Association, and Edwards' head coach role with the British team is now likely to be split between the four Home Nations.

Edwards will prepare a young squad for the European Championships, with only one member of the successful Olympic team, Manchester's Joe Murray, set to compete.

Murray, the world bronze medallist who was unlucky to lose his first-round bout to home favourite Yu Gu in China, will make his featherweight debut when the tournament starts on November 5.

Youngsters such as Hull's highly-rated teenage bantamweight prospect Luke Campbell and light-heavyweight Obed Mbwakongo will also be given the chance to shine.

However hopes that the tournament may herald the return of world champion Frankie Gavin have been dashed after the Birmingham fighter failed to come close to reaching the light-welterweight limit.

Gavin, whose Beijing dream was dashed on the eve of the competition when he could not boil down to lightweight, had been given the chance to return in the higher weight category.

But despite returning to join the rest of the elite squad at their base at the Sheffield Institute of Sport, Gavin's efforts were in vain and he is now seriously considering his amateur future.