A statement signed by Government officials was issued yesterday which insisted that there was "no practical reason" for the IOC to lift the ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes while Ukraine remains under attack and raised "strong concerns" over the feasibility of them participating under a neutral banner.

The coalition stressed that the athletes from the two nations should not be allowed to compete until the IOC had addressed "the substantial lack of clarity and concrete detail on a workable neutrality model".

French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra was among those to sign the statement which comes fewer than 18 months before Paris is due to stage the Olympic Games.

The IOC told insidethegames that it "takes note of the statement" from the coalition as it continues to hold talks with stakeholders.

"The IOC appreciates the constructive questions with regard to the definition of the neutrality of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport, while noting that the explicit human rights concerns expressed by two special rapporteurs of the United Nations Human Rights Council have not been addressed in the statement," a statement from the IOC read.

"In December last year, the leaders of all the stakeholders of the Olympic Movement addressed these human rights concerns and established the broad principles of such neutrality.

"Since then, there have been ongoing detailed consultations with these stakeholders in order to define these principles in more detail.

"In this context, the constructive questions expressed in the statement will be taken into due consideration."

Under the IOC's approach, athletes from Russia and Belarus would compete as neutrals and "no way represent their state or any other organisation in their country".

The IOC also stressed that athletes would need to "fully respect the Olympic Charter", meaning they have not actively supported the war in Ukraine and comply with the World Anti-Doping Code.

This would be enforced through "individual checks" on "all entered athletes", with International Federations required to remove them from competition and report the incident to the IOC should these conditions not be met.

The IOC has also cited United Nations resolutions and letters from its special rapporteurs in defending its stance.

The collective statement came as a result of an international summit chaired by British Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer on February 10 that brought together more than 35 nations to discuss the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes.

The British Government yesterday released the collective statement as well a list of 34 countries that signed it.

Australia was not on the list but the country’s Government has since stressed that it does agree with the collective statement.

A spokesperson for the Australian Sports Ministry told Reuters that its omission was an administrative error.

The Australian Government has previously distanced itself from calls for Russian and Belarusian athletes to be banned from Paris 2024.

The other countries to sign the statement are Austria, Britain, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden and the United States.