Current President Dobromir Karamarinov, 65, who took over the post on an interim basis after Norway’s Svein Arne Hansen suffered a stroke in March 2020 and was elected unopposed in October 2021, now has a challenger in Libor Varhanik, who has been a European Athletics vice-president since 2019.

The two men differ, crucially, over their attitude to the multi-sport European Championships at which European Athletics has played a key role in the first two editions - in 2018, when athletics took place in Berlin and other sports in Glasgow, and in 2022, when all related sports went ahead in Munich.

Insiders say the vote, which will take place on Saturday (April 22) morning, could be close.

Karamarinov, who is also President of the Bulgarian Athletic Federation, says in his manifesto:

"As far as most observers are concerned, our events, together with our athletes, are European Athletics.

"That means they must work for us.

"They must serve European Athletics, our Member Federations and our athletes.

"Nowhere is this truer than at our flagship event: our biennial European Athletics Championships.

"We have now staged two editions of the European Athletics Championships as part of the multisport European Championships.

"The most recent edition, the European Athletics Championships Munich 2022, were hugely successful on the track.

"But - and it’s a very serious reservation - the price we paid under the present model was an unacceptable loss of control over our own sport and our own Championships.

"For this reason, I have suspended European Athletics' participation in the next edition of the multisport European Championships, scheduled for 2026, until we hear the final report of the Task Force created for this very purpose.

"This does not mean that I deny the advantages of our Championships forming part of a multisport event.

"It simply means that, for our sport, those advantages are outweighed by the loss of identity, ownership, rights and independence that are implicit in the present model.

"Supported by the European Athletics Council, I therefore took steps to secure Birmingham in Great Britain as an independent host city for our event in 2026."

Varhanik has a different take.

"The short-sighted decision to delay the implementation of a new organisational model for the multi-sport concept, and to return to a stand-alone European championship in 2026, shows a reluctance to find creative new solutions for present and future challenges," he says.

"It also endangers our all-important relationship with the EBU and the long-term the value of our flagship event to other commercial partners."

In a video promoting his campaign, Varhanik, who is chair of European Athletics marketing AG, adds:  "We need to counter the impression that European Athletics works for itself and that the needs of others don’t matter.

"A key step would be offering financial incentives to attract the best athletes...

"Perhaps our biggest opportunity is to use our leading position to connect with other strong sports and build on the fantastic TV figures of the first two multisport European Championships.

"We can create an event that will highlight our sport and athletes, satisfy the needs of member federations and generate maximum income.

"For this initiative I bring unique experience gained as the chairman of the board responsible for the delivery of Munich 2022."

Varhanik also maintains: "we must completely change the promotion strategy for our top events.

"We also have to think about a development of complementary events that find new audiences, like the DNA format I helped to create."

Dynamic New Athletics (DNA), a speedy team event involving head-to-head competitions, has divided opinion in the sport, serving as the athletics model at the Minsk 2019 European Games, and more recently proving successful at under-20 level.

The 28th Congress - excluding Extraordinary Congresses - since the formation of European Athletics in 1970 will involve elections for the European Athletics President, three vice-presidents and 13 Council members and will run from tomorrow until Sunday (April 23).

The elections will see European Athletics take further steps towards ensuring a gender balance in these roles as constitutional changes mean that two people of each gender will occupy the combined positions of President and vice-president while a minimum of five people of each gender will be elected as Council members.

With the Presidency heading for one man or another, this means that two of the vice-presidents slots must go to women, of whom there are only two candidates: Britain's Cherry Alexander, already a vice-president, and Sweden's Karin Grute Movin.

This in turn means three candidates - France's Jean Gracia, Hungary's Marton Gyulai and Antii Pihlakoski of Finland - will seek the sole male position.

The 25 candidates for the 13 seats on the Council include several former top class athletes including Romania's Beijing 2008 women's marathon champion Constantina Dita, Italy’s 1986 European 10,000m champion Stefano Mei of Italy and Belgium’s 2008 Olympic high jump gold medallist Tia Hellebaut.