LONDON (BBC) - Allowing governments to decide which athletes can take part in competitions “would be the end of international sport as we know it”, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has warned.
The organization says it “has found middle ground” for athletes from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.
But the Russian and Ukrainian authorities have opposed its plans.
“It cannot be up to the governments to decide which athletes can take part,” the IOC said.
The body updated its stance on Russian and Belarusian athletes in a document released on Thursday.
The IOC has been under pressure to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing, even under a neutral flag, following the war in Ukraine.
In March it told sporting federations they should allow athletes from those countries to compete as neutrals.
With the 2024 Paris Olympics due to start in just over a year, the IOC is still fine tuning its stance on Russian and Belarusian athletes and said it has not made a final decision on their participation in next year’s Games. However, it said the National Organizing Committees of Russia and Belarus would play no part in the Games.
It stressed that allowing participation “works”, highlighting several sports in which athletes from the warring nations had competed without problems - though some athletes have questioned this.
It also highlighted a ruling by the United Nations Human Rights Council, which advised that a blanket ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes would be discriminatory and a flagrant violation of human rights.
Wimbledon has also allowed athletes from those two nations to compete over the past few weeks, although Victoria Azarenka, who holds a Belarusian passport, was booed off court by fans after losing to Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina.