The 67-year-old Frenchman received 40 of the 41 ballot votes after standing unopposed for the position, which he has held since 2009 when he succeeded Greece's Dimitrios Dimitropoulos.

Existing UEG vice-presidents Ruedi Hediger of Switzerland and Malin Eggertz Forsmark of Sweden were also re-elected, with Azerbaijan's Fahrid Gayibov joining them in the position after garnering 23 votes to Romanian Adrian Stoica's 14 and Luxembourg's Paolo Frising's 13.

"I have observed with great satisfaction the spirit of solidarity and unanimity prevailing within the UEG," Guelzec said after the meeting, attended by 44 of the 48 UEG federations.

"Everyone supports the projects we develop.

"We deliberately decided to anticipate the challenges ahead in a proactive policy.

"One of them will be the first European Games in Baku in 2015, in which gymnastics will participate with all its diversity, with all its Olympic and non-Olympic disciplines."

Also attending the general assembly was International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) President Bruno Grandi and secretary general André F Gueisbuhler, who congratulated Guelzec on his re-election and expressed their support for his next term in charge of the UEG.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
June 2013: Portorož named to host 25th European Union of Gymnastics Congress
October 2013: European Games in Baku to include acrobatics and aerobics