Sir Craig, a former vice-president of the IOC and ex-head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, has called for a decision to be made on the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes for the Games in two years’ time.

But the British official has raised doubts over their involvement while they remain largely banned from competition due to sanctions imposed by International Federations in response to the war in Ukraine.

"I’m afraid a decision is going to have to be taken on what happens to each of these two countries," said Sir Craig, who was an IOC member for 27 years from 1994, and is now an  honorary member, as reported by The Guardian.

"And my guess is that the general feeling would be that they should not qualify.

"I think most people are struggling with how we could achieve some degree of representation.

"At the moment, there is no clear way to do it.

"Therefore, you maintain the status quo."

The IOC urged IFs to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competition and not to stage events in the two countries after Russia, aided by Belarus, launched its full-scale invasion on February 24.

However, no decision has been made by the IOC over whether they will be allowed to compete at Paris 2024.

The vast majority of Olympic IFs have banned Russian and Belarusian athletes outright, although they may compete as neutrals in a few select sports, including tennis and judo.

Sir Craig said the situation presented a "real issue" for those competitors looking to qualify for Paris 2024.

"On the face of it, it’s unlikely that anybody would qualify other than in those three sports which don’t do it that way," said Sir Craig.

"And will they be able to qualify [from those three sports]?

"I’m not sure."

Sir Craig’s suggestion that Russian and Belarusian athletes might be banned from the Games have sparked anger in Russia.

Ilgar Mammadov, head of the Russian Fencing Federation, and Russian Wrestling Federation President Mikhail Mamiashvili are among those to hit back at his claims.

"Reedie creates public opinion so that we are not allowed to the Games," Mammadov told Russia’s official state news agency TASS.

"They understand that the Olympic qualification will begin at different times, with us - in the spring of 2023.

"And they do [ so] so that by this time we will not return."

Mamiashvili added: "Olympic selection in wrestling will begin with the 2023 World Championship, it was planned in Krasnoyarsk, and so far everything is on standby.

"But what kind of selection can there be if the best team in the world is absent?"

Tatyana Tarasova, one of Russia's most successful figure skating coaches, claimed her country would face similar questions over participation at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.

"Is the [International] Olympic Committee going to continue to behave like this?," Tarasova told TASS.

"They don’t punish us ten times, we don’t have any competitions anyway.

"What do they want from us?

"What do they want from the young generation that runs, jumps, prepares, spends their health?

"They don't want to punish the country, but specific gifted people who have devoted their whole lives to this.

"This is very cruel and unfair."

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo hinted in March that she could back a ban on athletes from Russia and Belarus for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics.

IOC President Thomas Bach has said there is no commitment to lift the sanctions on Russia and Belarus, insisting "we have left this open".

Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin previously suggested he does not fear for Russia’s participation at the Games in the French capital.

The United Nations' last reported on July 4 that at least 4,889 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, although it is feared the true figure is far higher.

More than 8.7 million people have also been forced to flee the country.