The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has recommended that athletes and officials from Russia and Belarus are banned from international sport events because of the invasion of Ukraine, and the majority of International Federations have implemented this.

Russia has conducted some sports events with its allies, most notably Belarus which is supporting the invasion of Ukraine, since the "protective measures" were introduced in February.

It is a leading player within the SCO, which also consists of China, India, Pakistan and the Central Asian former Soviet states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, while Iran is in the process of joining.

The SCO countries held a summit in the Uzbek city of Samarkand, and Putin talked up the prospect of the group organising sports events.

"There are good opportunities to intensify sports cooperation with the prospect of holding major sporting events under the auspices of the SCO," he said, as reported by Reuters.

"To do this, we could think about creating an association of sports organisations under our association."

Belarus is an observer of the SCO.

Its President Aleksandr Lukashenko was banned from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics by the IOC, and his son Viktor Lukashenko is President of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus (NOCRB) - although he remains unrecognised by the IOC.

Bans on Russian and Belarusian involvement have been drawn increasingly into focus with some sports having already begun qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, and the Belarusian President suggested that SCO events could clash with the Paris 2024 Summer and Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Games.

"We suggest the possibility of holding a complex of sporting competitions within the framework of the SCO: summer events in 2024, winter in 2026," Lukashenko said, as reported by Reuters.

Putin hinted at the summit that Beijing has "questions and concerns" with regards to the war in Ukraine, but in the public domain enjoys a broadly cooperative relationship with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

The Russian leader was invited to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics by the Chinese head of state.

He would otherwise have been unable to attend the Games due to doping-related sanctions, which forced Russia to compete under the "neutral" Russian Olympic Committee banner at Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022.

Russia invaded Ukraine four days after the Closing Ceremony of the Winter Olympics in the Chinese capital, and Beijing was forced to deny suggestions that it had asked for what Moscow describes as a "special military operation" to be delayed until after the conclusion of the Games.

Putin and Xi have opened two of the last three Winter Olympics at Sochi 2014 and Beijing 2022 respectively, with the IOC's selection of Russia and China as host countries criticised by human rights groups on the basis of the two authoritarian leaders' domestic records.

Right wing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly questioned Putin over the invasion of Ukraine at the summit, although the two countries are becoming increasingly important trading partners, and India played Belarus in a men's football friendly in March.

Kyrgyzstan and Iran are two of the three nations Russia has arranged forthcoming football friendlies against as it seeks to play its first match since the invasion of Ukraine.

The other is Bosnia and Herzegovina, although the plans have sparked a furious reaction from some of their opponents' star players.

Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, as well as SCO dialogue partner Armenia, took part in a Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics replacement event in Khanty-Mansiysk.

NOCRB President Lukashenko alluded to the potential to organise sports events with SCO member countries and BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - earlier this week.

United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee chair Susanne Lyons has also claimed that the IOC is discussing "whether there is a pathway" for the return of Russian athletes to international sport with National Olympic Committees.

The IOC has said that its recommendations "remain in place for the time being."