Its eight-member Council, including six International Federation Presidents, met today.

Russia and Belarus have largely been frozen out of international sport since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year, but the IOC has moved in recent months to "explore a pathway" for their return.

It has insisted that athletes from both countries could only compete under "strict conditions" of neutrality, but its proposals have proved divisive and sparked an angry response in Ukraine.

A group of 30 nations have called for greater clarity on the IOC's definition of neutrality for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

ASOIF acknowledged that this is a "highly complex matters for the International Federations in terms of their specificity and the particularly qualification process", and "different solutions may be required for different sports".

However, its Council deemed it is "ready to collaborate with the IOC and National Olympic Committees on clarifying a workable definition of 'neutral athletes'".

The Council also expressed concern that "boycotts have never achieved anything and stressed that sport must bring people together, not divide them", and "emphasised the necessity to prevent public authorities' influence in sport matters".

ASOIF President Francesco Ricci Bitti chaired the meeting, and summarised its conclusions.

"During the ongoing debates about the potential participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the Olympic Games under certain conditions, it is important to recall that decisions in sport matters must ultimately remain as the remit of sport organisations," the Italian official said.

"Consultation is preferable to public resolutions if we seek to facilitate solutions.

"The autonomy and the role of sport organisations are vital to maintain the dialogue open in this difficult time."

The heads of International Federations on the ASOIF Council are World Archery's Uğur Erdener, World Triathlon's Marisol Casado, World Athletics' Sebastian Coe, the International Equestrian Federation's Ingmar De Vos, United World Wrestling's Nenad Lalović and the International Gymnastics Federation's Morinari Watanabe, all IOC members.

Briton Coe has adopted a harsher response to Russia than the IOC has, and in December said the country's athletes should only be allowed to return following the invasion when it is "palatable and fair".

One proposal was made by the Olympic Council of Asia for athletes from Russia and Belarus to qualify for Paris 2024 through its continental tournaments, but this drew opposition from World Archery because of the impact on Asian National Federations.

Council members were also updated by the ASOIF Governance Taskforce which is revising the methodology for International Federation governance assessments, with an informal working group established to provide advice.

The questionnaire for the latest governance review is set to be finalised for presentation at the Governance Workshop at the end of April.

Updates were additionally provided on the reorganisation of SportAccord following the controversial dissolution of the Global Association of International Sports Federations, and from the ASOIF Sustainability Consultative Group and Urban and Mass Participation Working Group.

Finally, details were discussed for the hybrid ASOIF General Assembly on May 31 in Lausanne, where three Council members are set to be elected, and the Paris 2024 revenue share scheme, statute amendments and membership applications discussed.