The Commission, chaired by Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) President Sarah Keane, was welcomed by the EOC secretary general Raffaele Pagnozzi and his team at the Italian capital’s Olympic Preparation Centre.

The gathering started with introductions by its members and was followed by a report from the Commission's chair for the 2014 to 2017 quadrennium, Lithuania's Daina Gudzineviciute, on its previous activities.

Gudzineviciute is now an EOC Executive Committee liaison member.

Discussions mainly focused on the objectives and action plans of the Commission, which are said to be fully in line with the International Olympic Committee document on gender equality.

"We want women to be extraordinary but we want it to be ordinary that women are leading in sport," Keane said in her opening speech.

Another important point on the agenda was the "New Leaders Programme", a legacy project aimed at building an equal and modern culture of sport.

This was outlined by Finnish Olympic Committee secretary general Mikko Salonen, who had already presented it to all European National Olympic Committees at the recent EOC seminar held in Belgrade.

The EOC confirmed the chairs of eight Commissions through to 2021 in May of this year.

Keane's election as chair of the Gender Equality in Sport Commission means an Irish official is in a key role following the departure of former EOC President Patrick Hickey.

Under Keane's leadership, the OCI hosted a two-day conference on "empowering women" last November.

Women's involvement in Irish sport has recently enjoyed a number of successes, with the hosting of the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Dublin and Belfast.

Success has also been achieved by London 2012 Olympic champion boxer Katie Taylor and sailor Annalise Murphy, who won laser radial silver at Rio 2016.

Keane was elected as the OCI President in February 2017, replacing Hickey who stepped aside from his sporting roles.

Hickey was arrested during a dawn raid at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and briefly held in a high security prison.

He is not expected to have to return to Brazil to face trial on charges of ticket touting, money laundering and tax evasion, which he denies.

The OCI, under Keane’s leadership, deemed he would not be welcomed back into the organisation.

The EOC’s Marketing and Communications Commission, headed by Mihai Claudiu Covaliu, is due to gather in Cluj-Napoca in Romania tomorrow.