Ferriani, first elected into the position in 2010, will be seeking a third term in office at a Congress due to take place in Rome on June 27.

Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton chief Sarah Storey, the daughter of Ferriani’s predecessor, Bob, is also listed as running for President in documents sent to IBSF members, which have not yet been made public but have been obtained by insidethegames.

She is also listed as running for all six vice-president positions, and insidethegames understands she is likely to ultimately target one of these.

Ferriani, who unseated Bob Storey in 2010, is likely to use his recent proposal as the winter sporting representative on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board as a major bargaining chip in his re-election campaign.

The Italian is believed to have led a push to hold a vote to replace International Ski Federation Gian Franco Kasper - who must stand down in 2018 - at last month’s Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations (AIOWF) General Assembly in Bangkok rather than wait until later in the year.

He narrowly won a vote to press ahead with a nomination after gaining support from four of the seven AIOWF members.

Burkard is not a current member of the IBSF Executive Board but has been closely involved in the development of Para-bobsleigh, a sport due to make its Paralympic debut at Beijing 2022.

He is listed on the IBSF website as having sponsored the first custom designed Para Mono Bob in St. Moritz and currently sits on the IBSF's Para-Bobsleigh and Skeleton Committee chaired by Ferriani.

The 50-year-old spent 11 years as a manager at  building and motor vehicle supplies firm, Sika, until 2012 and is now listed as a vice-president of the St Moritz Bobsleigh Club.

Candidates standing again for other IBSF positions include Great Britain’s Adam Pengilly, who reached the end of his eight-year term on the IOC Athletes’ Commission this year.

The Briton is seeking re-election as a vice-president responsible for international affairs.

Three candidates are opposing him: Storey, Belgium’s Stefaan Freeling and Argentina’s German Glessner.

Storey is also challenging two other incumbents, United States’ Darrin Steele and Monaco’s David Tomatis for the respective vice-president positions responsible for sport and marketing and events.

New Zealand’s Ben Sandford is challenged by Latvia’s Martins Dambergs, The Netherlands’ Wiltfried Idema and Storey once again for vice-president for legal affairs.

A new figure is guaranteed in the vice-president responsible for communication.

Russia’s current postholder Georgy Bedzhamov has not been active in his role since being charged with an illegal withdrawal of bank assets worth 235 billion roubles (£2.9 billion/$3.8 billion/€3.4 billion) by a Moscow Court.

The co-owner of Vneshprombank fled Russia in 2016 and sought refuge in Monaco.

Five candidates are standing to replace him.

This includes another Russian, Sergey Parkhomenko, as well as Storey, Poland’s Przemyslaw Piesiewicz, Bermuda’s Patrick Singleton and The Netherlands’ Peter van Wees.