insidethegames revealed in January that Peterkin planned to withdraw and was only launching his application as an insurance policy in case other contenders fell short.

The decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) member was confirmed in a letter addressed to PASO secretary general Jimena Saldaña. 

The letter, signed by St Lucia Olympic Committee President Fortuna Belrose, claimed they had decided to withdraw Peterkin "after careful consideration of all existing factors and more importantly the unity of our organisation".

This leaves four candidates left in the race to replace Julio Maglione, the acting President of PASO since the death of Mexico's Mario Vázquez Raña in February 2015. 

They are Vincent and the Grenadines’ Keith Joseph, Chile’s Neven Ilic, Brazil’s Carlos Nuzman and Dominican Republic’s José Joaquín Puello.

Joseph is widely expected to follow Peterkin's lead and soon pull-out of the process.

This would leave Puello as the only candidate from the Caribbean.

An election is due to take place at the PASO General Assembly in Punta del Este in Uruguay, on April 26.

Peterkin, 68, whose term as an IOC member is set to expire when he passes the age limit of 70 in April 2018, is still thought to be keen to remain involved in PASO.

He remains treasurer of the Association of National Olympic Committees and is considered keen to occupy a similar role within the Americas.

Puello, 76, and Nuzman, 75, are currently considered the two leading candidates in the PASO race.

Ilic, at 54 by far the youngest contender, is seen as an outsider.

The Caribbean makes up 22 of the 41 countries who are members of PASO. 

All members hold one vote except for the 10 countries to have played host to the Pan American Games. who each have two.

It is expected to be hard for any one candidate to gain the united support of the region even if Joseph does follow Peterkin's lead in withdrawing.