Britain were left without representation on European Athletics' ruling Council for the first time since the organisation was formed in 1932 after UK Athletics chairman Ed Warner failed in his attempt to succeed Jonathan Edwards, the former Olympic triple jump champion who stepped down after serving for four years.

De Vos was also overlooked for the Development Committee while Cherry Alexander failed to gain election to the Competitions Committee.

In contrast, all of three of the officials that Ireland put forward were elected, including Athletics Ireland President Liam Hennessy to the Council.

He was joined by 2000 Sydney Olympic champions, Estonian decathlete Eriki Nool and Romanian 5,000 metres runner Gabriela Szabo.

The other major decision saw Switzerland's Hansjorg Wirz re-elected as President.

He beat Norway's Sven Arne Hansen by 28 votes to 22.

De Vos, meanwhile, tried to claim that the decision to overlook all of Britain's candidates, despite the fact they were asked to stand, did not mean anything - even though the snub comes just a year before London is due to host the Olympics.

"I don't feel any great sense of frustration or anything else," he told insidethegames.

"Alll the feedback we've had is very positive about what we've done and what we are doing and, where it really matters is at competition level, and we are very much still at the heart of that.

"We are still very much at the centre of the big issues.

"I'm very confident that our voice will not be any quieter or any less well received as a result of today."

De Vos claimed that UK Athletics' priority at this Congress - the first time that it has been staged in Britain - had been to promote its bid to host the 2013 European Team Championships at Gateshead and the 2017 World Championships at the Olympic Stadium in London.

"The feedback from that everybody has been outstanding," he said.

"The important thing has been to get support behind those two bids and that's been pretty comprehensive from everybody.

"I think the quality of the event we have put on here has certainly helped that.

"We know where we need to influence and we are confident that we still can."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
April 2011: European Athletics to elect President