Austria, Croatia, Germany and Switzerland had lodged an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last June after the Presidential election which saw Eliasch return unopposed at a FIS Congress in Milan.

The four nations wanted CAS to review the proceedings of the Congress as a "precautionary measure", claiming that "procedural motions that were obviously formulated according to democratic principles and correctly submitted or brought forward were not admitted by the external FIS legal counsel".

A decision on the case was expected to be announced this year after CAS heard the appeal last December.

But Stefan Schwarzbach, member of the German Ski Federation’s Executive Committee, told German news agency SID that it had dropped the appeal.

"The withdrawal of the complaint is not because our understanding of the law has changed, but because we have to recognize that the current procedure interferes with and partially blocks the voting process at the FIS," said Schwarzbach.

Responding to the news the FIS said in a statement: "FIS is pleased to learn that the four appellants have withdrawn their appeal against the election of the FIS President, which was filed at the CAS last year after the FIS Congress. 

"FIS has always maintained that the allegations put forward were frivolous, and completely without merit or substance, and therefore that the President’s election was conducted in full compliance with the FIS Statutes and Swiss law. 

"The withdrawal means that there is no longer any doubt that the re-election of President Eliasch was legitimate.

"FIS is now keen to move on from this unfortunate episode to focus on what really matters - namely to work together in a democratic and open-minded manner and to create the best framework for our sport."

Eliasch was re-elected for another four-year term without challenge in May last year, where members from major skiing nations walked out during the Congress.

The choices on the ballot was a major issue with only Eliasch's name included.

It was claimed by Austria, Germany, Croatia and Switzerland that the Congress had agreed to include an option to vote against Eliasch but this was not included on the ballot.

Schwarzbach said at the time of filing the appeal that the option to vote for one thing "does not correspond to our understanding of the law and is only a farce".

FIS rejected the claims filed by the four nations.

Eliasch defeated three other candidates to win a landslide election in June 2021, to complete the term of retiring incumbent Gian-Franco Kasper.

Despite the walkout at the FIS Congress last year, Eliasch, a British-Swedish billionaire, still gained 70 out of 100 votes.