James Macleod, the IOC’s director of Olympic Solidarity and head of National Olympic Committee relations, criticised the Ukrainian Government’s stance when addressing the reintroduction of Russian and Belarusian athletes at the Oceania National Olympic Committees General Assembly in Brisbane.

The IOC Executive Board recommended last month for competitors from Russia and Belarus to return to the global sporting stage as individual neutral athletes as long as they do not support the invasion of Ukraine and are not affiliated to the military.

The move has angered the Ukrainian Government which responded by announcing that athletes from the country will boycott qualifying events for next year’s Olympic Games in Paris where there are Russians competing.

Ukraine’s Sports Ministry drafted a resolution to strip National Federations of their status and funding if they do not adhere to such a policy before it was officially adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers, the highest body of state executive power in the country, last week.

Macleod insisted that the IOC was against the Ukrainian Government’s decision to ban the country’s athletes from competing in international competitions in which Russians and Belarusians are taking part.

"You would have seen - and I do want to address it - a lot of strong wording from the Ukrainian Government on the decision that was made [by the IOC Executive Board]," said Macleod.

"They have gone so far as to prohibit their own athletes from competing in events in which there could be neutral athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport.

"They have also threatened to withdraw the funding of those athletes should they do so.

"That obviously for us is a step too far because athletes must be at the centre of all of our deliberations and we don’t believe that Governments’ decisions whether it is the Ukrainian Government or the Russian Government or any Government should have an impact on athletes ability to access international competitions or funding so that is an unfortunate position that we are in at the moment but no doubt the IOC Executive Board will have to debate again on what is happening in that respect."

The IOC has previously said that the Government decree on National Federations "raises serious questions about the autonomy of Ukrainian sport", insisting such a move would only "hurt" athletes from the country.

There has also been opposition from Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych who argued that blocking the country’s athletes from competitions would give Russian representatives "the opportunity to promote their narratives and propaganda" and amount to "a white flag from the side of Ukrainian sports".

Heraskevych, who famously displayed a banner calling for "no war in Ukraine" during last year's Winter Olympics in Beijing, is a vocal critic of the IOC and the participation of Russia and Belarus in international sport.

The IOC has pledged to provide Olympic Solidarity funding to any Ukrainian athletes affected by the boycotting of events.

Last month, Ukrainian Sports Minister and National Olympic Committee of Ukraine President Vadym Gutzeit cast doubt on the IOC's claim that its Solidarity Fund has benefited approximately 3,000 athletes and coaches from the country.

The IOC has said its Solidarity Fund totalling $7.5 million (£6.2 million/€7 million) is being used to allow Ukrainian athletes to continue training and competing at major events.

Gutzeit said that about $1.5 million (£1.2 million/€1.4 million) to $2 million (£1.7 million/€1.9 million) had been provided to the federation and to the athletes.

Bach has claimed that the IOC had found "some middle ground" after saying that he had accused by Russia of being "agents of the United States" and by Ukraine of siding with Moscow.

He has also slammed Government opposition to the IOC’s stance as "deplorable".