Abdykerimov, also President of the Kyrgyzstan Wrestling Federation, was chosen following a unanimous vote at an Extraordinary General Assembly attended by 35 of the Central Asian nation's 44 Member Federations.

He was the only applicant, and will serve in the post until the body's next General Assembly, due to be held at an as-of-yet unspecified point following next year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

This follows the sudden death of Saralinov in March at the age of 54 after what was reported locally as a massive heart attack.

He will be changed with continuing administrative success while also ensuring better sporting fortunes following a last year's Asian Games in Incheon, where the country failed to win a medal.

Kyrgyzstan, which achieved independence in 1991 following the break-up of the Soviet Union, first competed in an Olympics in Lillehammer in 1994.

Three medals have since been won: bronze for under 60kg judoka Aidyn Smagulov at Sydney 2000, and silver and bronze for Greco Roman wrestlers Kanatbek Begaliev and Ruslan Tiumenbaev at Beijing 2008, in the respective under 66kg and under 60kg divisions.

They will be hoping to return to the medals podium at Rio 2016.