Echoing the sentiments of International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach at last night's Closing Ceremony, the Sheikh described the Games as "outstanding".

"From the very beginning the athletes' interests have been put at the very heart of Sochi 2014's philosophy," he said.

"In a Games in which many records were broken, including the record for the largest number of NOCs participating at a Winter Games, it was the athletes' positive experience and assessment of Sochi that was the most valuable success."

ANOC worked closely with the organising committee of Sochi 2014 in the years leading up to the Games, through the Coordination Commission.

The Sheikh added: "We have been delighted with the overwhelmingly positive feedback we have received over the past two weeks.

"Delegations at the Games have told us that Sochi 2014 has set the standard for creating the perfect environment for NOCs [National Olympic Committees].

"ANOC is committed to ensuring that these lessons and best-practices are built upon so that NOCs and their athletes at all future Games can enjoy the same high-standards they experienced in Sochi."

The organisation will collect feedback from all 88 nations that participated in the Winter Games, as part of a debrief.

The feedback will be included in a report to be delivered by ANOC on behalf of the NOCs at the official Sochi 2014 debrief in Pyeongchang in June.