Pound also felt it was "quite clear" that Juan Antonio Samaranch had been pulling strings for Jacques Rogge to win the election.

Belgian Rogge won the election with 59 votes, and Pound points to the fact that 57 members of the committee are European.

South Korea's Kim Un-yong finished runner-up with 23 votes, ahead of Pound with 22.

Hungarian Pal Schmitt was fourth with six and American Anita DeFrantz was eliminated in the first round.

He said: "I think this was a decision by a eurocentric organization, that they wanted a European president.

"They were quite united and then they persuaded a few others from other parts of the world to agree with them. It's pretty eurocentric."

The Canadian said the IOC ought to be "careful" because the trend might become a problem.

He added: "I'm worried about block voting.

"I think every member should try and decide every question on the basis of what he or she thinks is best for the movement and should not be regional."

Outgoing president Samaranch never publicly identified his choice, but he was thought to favour Rogge.

Pound said: "I don't think it's a betrayal.

"I might have hoped he would have seen me as his successor but he had his reasons, and they may be perfectly good reasons, I don't know."

Asked what it would take for the IOC to ever elect an American or Canadian president, Pound answered "move to Europe?"