Ferriani, a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), received 38 of the 43 votes at the IBSF Congress to secure a third term as President.

Burkard, who sits on the IBSF's Para Sport Committee and was Ferriani's only rival following the withdrawal of Canada's Sarah Storey, claimed five votes.

The Italian was first elected to the top job at the IBSF in 2010 and will serve through to 2022.

His victory came despite insidethegames exclusively revealing on the eve of the election that Ferriani's expenses increased by 128 per cent between 2016 and 2017.

Storey also raised several concerns over Ferriani's conduct when she withdrew her candidacy for President and criticised the way the election had been run.

The Bobsleigh Canada chief, the daughter of Ferriani’s processor,Bob Storey, also accused the 58-year-old Italian of failing to honour pledges on transparency and accountability.

"I feel very honoured and just want to say thank you to all delegates that you give me the chance to serve you for another four years," said Ferriani.

"Thank you also to the leaving members of the Executive Board for their work and dedication to our sport. 

"A warm welcome to the newly elected vice-presidents I look forward to work with you and I am excited to see what we can achieve. 

"Now it’s time to go to work, continue projects, pursuing new ideas and meet the challenges that lay ahead us to make our sport even better."

Ferriani added: "Do not hesitate to raise your hand and tell us your needs as this Federation is your Federation. 

"I look forward to sliding into the future with you."

Storey failed with her bid for election as vice-president for international affairs as Belgian Stefaan Freeling was elected with 28 votes.

Britain's Adam Pengilly was the incumbent but withdrew his candidacy before the election.

Freeling won with a considerable majority as Storey polled 11 votes and German Glessner of Argentina secured four.

American Darrin Steele was re-elected vice-president for sport, while incumbent Andreas Trautvetter of Germany will serve another four-year term as vice-president for corporate and financial affairs.

David Tomatis of Monaco retained his position as vice-president of marketing and events.

Przemyslaw Piesiewicz of Poland beat Peter van Wees of The Netherlands 28 votes to five to secure the vice-presidency of communication.

Piesiewicz succeeds Georgy Bedzhamov, the former Russian Bobsleigh Federation President arrested in 2016 on suspicion of the illegal withdrawal of bank assets worth 235 billion roubles (£2.8 billion/$3.7 billion/€3.2 billion).

Latvia's Martins Dambergs unseated incumbent Ben Sandford of New Zealand to secure the vice-president legal affairs position.

Dambergs claimed 22 votes, four more than Sandford.