However, Tarvi Pürn, the Ministry of Culture's permanent undersecretary for sport, has said the campaigning and debates so far have been too superficial.

Three candidates amassed the necessary support to run: Current incumbent Urmas Sõõrumaa, current vice president Erich Teigamägi and former president of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid.

Tarvi Pürn said whoever becomes EOK president, their personality will exert a great influence on the success of the entire organization.

Speaking to Vikerraadio show "Spordipühapäev," on Sunday, Pürn said that was the case: "Without a doubt, as, first and foremost, the president forms the team they pull the wagon with."

"Together with the executive committee, he or she sets the strategic direction. To overstate things somewhat, if you make a 90-degree turn in some agreed-upon area today, then you must certainly start looking right away at what has been going on, considering that elite sports function mostly through public money and the use of this has very clear limits."

"They operate under some kind of regulation which can only be changed by the ministry, so good cooperation with the ministry is inevitable," Pürn continued.

"All of these things must be in alignment, while undoubtedly the president, who heads the executive committee's work, will ultimately shape the EOK's agenda and priorities."

"I would also stress one more thing, which has historically been highly visible, namely how the president of the EOK addresses society in general. How they create relationships with politicians, the government, and the culture minister. These are certainly very key moments," the permanent undersecretary continued.

The election debates have focused too much on defining the line between elite sports and recreational sports, Pürn went on, instead of focusing on how to raise the level of Estonian athletes in general.

He said: "It has clearly emerged from the election debates that Estonian sport has one umbrella organization. [But] I see it this way: As sport is a whole.

"In sport, the highest peak is elite sports; medals from the Olympics and other major competitions, but if we take a look, for example, at children's and youth sports, then my belief is we won't find any expert who can draw a line there. Where does recreational movement, recreational sports, or elite sports begin, meaning everything is in its formative stage, and the coaches who work with this group are one and the same."

"So, sport is a whole; it forms a very clear pyramid, from which medal winners are sifted out, but the majority of the EOK's activities actually contribute to shaping the exercise avilities and habits of the entire population. When I look at the statistics, then out of the children and young people who make it to training, one in a thousand will reach elite sports level as adults. Those are the statistics," Pürn said.

Kersti Kaljulaid some weeks ago argued for an even more elitist system, in terms of state support for elite-level sport rather than sport for all.

Pürn said he was skeptical about this.

"If you look again at what has been discussed within the debates, there are some surprising points for me which have somehow been highlighted, but then there are those where I'm a little surprised that nothing has been said. If we take elite sports, one peculiar claim for me is that 'Team Estonia' has become too broad. I understand where this comes from, that for someone it might seem so, but since everyone has such little money, they hope that maybe this is the place where they can get more."

Pürn reported that the allocation of funding for Estonian athletes revealed something of a Pareto principle at play, among the roughly 100 elite athletes in Estonia.

Forty-one percent of total sort resources go to 26 athletes, Pürn said; 82 percent, a total of €5 million, goes to 89 athletes in "A," "B" and "C" categories, and their coaches and trainers.

Cutting funds even for C-category athletes is seen as problematic, as this demographic may still include future Olympic champions.

Discussions on improving quality of training for top athletes, particularly young athletes, has been neglected, Pürn noted, despite there being only around 100 elite athletes, a manageable number.

Additionally, team sports, which have a significant societal impact and often attract private funding, should not be overlooked when allocating public resources.

As to whether the EOK even speaks to or for the Estonian people, Pürn said: "I don't know if that is even the goal in and of itself."

"If the EOK fulfills its role properly, its position will be strong in any case. If we look internationally, the leader of the Olympic movement is generally quite an influential person," Pürn continued, referring to the IOC.

"Their audience is very broad, so if we go down to the lower tiers of the entire sports pyramid, through this, you are essentially addressing half of the parents in Estonia. The scope of this influence is thus very large. Sport resonates with a large part of the masses, especially when something special has happened: For example, one of our own, or one of our teams, has achieved something very special. People certainly need these success stories. So, I would say that the more successful we are as a whole in sports, the more successful the EOK's work will have been," Pürn summarized.

Estonia's voice is currently not being heard on the international sports stage, former president Kersti Kaljulaid said Friday.

Kersti Kaljulaid recently said that Estonia should aim to get a representative on the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) executive board, as a way of raising the country's profile.

Estonia failed to take home any medals from the summer's olympic games in Paris, the fist time it had failed to do so since Atlanta 1996.

Sport falls under the culture ministry's remit in Estonia.

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