Even a seasoned Bach watcher like myself was left feeling slightly confused following the German’s 31-minute rambling monologue after the conclusion of the three-day International Olympic Committee Executive Board here yesterday.

On the one hand, Bach was insisting that IOC sanctions imposed in February against the two countries following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including the ban on any of their anthems, flags or national symbols, remain in place.

The "protective measures" of not letting their athletes compete in international competitions to protect the events' integrity were another matter.

"We need to explore ways to overcome this dilemma with regard to athletes' participation and come back to sporting merits and not political interference," Bach said. "What we never did and did not want to do was prohibit athletes from competing in competitions only due to their passports."

What Bach said yesterday was not new, and his address was really just a mashup of all the previous speeches he has given since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the attack on Ukraine.

So, this position of the IOC is well established, but on this occasion, Bach dwelt on it at some length, admitting that this requires "other consultations, and they are in progress, so there is no fixed date."

There is a popular English proverb, dating from the 16th century, of, "You can't have your cake and eat it." The proverb means "you cannot simultaneously retain possession of a cake and eat it, too", which is precisely what Bach is trying to do here.

On the one hand, he knows that athletes from Russia and Belarus cannot be allowed to take part in international sport while Putin is raging an illegal war as Governments in Western Europe and North America will not allow it.

On the other, he knows that he cannot totally risk alienating Moscow and Putin's allies, particularly in China.

What keeps Bach awake at night is that, if athletes from Russia and Belarus are isolated for an extended period of time, then it increases the risk of an alternative event to the Olympic Games being established by those left out in the cold. Russia and China have already started staging bilateral competitions, like the Russian-Chinese Winter Youth Games in Changchun next week.

The existential threat to the future of the Olympic Movement is greater than at any time since the United States-led boycott of Moscow 1980 in protest at the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan, which four years saw the Eastern Bloc retaliate by not taking part in Los Angeles 1984.

Then, US television mogul Ted Turner established Goodwill Games, which was briefly seen as a rival to the Olympics. Top-class competitions were staged in Moscow in 1986 and Seattle in 1990 before the dissolution of the Soviet Union signalled the end of the Cold War and the crisis passed for the Olympic Movement.

The difference this time is the economic and political muscle that China could bring to any potential breakaway event. Beijing's influence in Africa, the Middle East and the Pacific has been growing rapidly in recent years, meaning more countries than ever now look East for guidance, rather than West to Washington D.C.

Bach also has a unique perspective on the situation as he was denied the opportunity of competing for West Germany at Moscow 1980 because the Government in Bonn joined the boycott.

"This was a very tough time, and to make the athletes' voice heard at this time was almost impossible," the former fencer reflected in 2020 on the 40th anniversary of Moscow 1980. "We had to realise that, on the one hand, the athletes were not really heard within the sports organisations.

"And on the other hand, we had to realise that also the sports organisations, the National Olympic Committees or the IOC, had very limited political influence, to say it diplomatically. I could also say almost none."

That experience has definitely shaped Bach's views on the Olympics being used for political capital. "The role of the Olympic Games is to unify the entire world in a peaceful competition, without any discrimination, be it racial, be it social, be it cultural, be it political," he said in the same interview, so at least his current position is consistent with what he has always believed.

Surely, though, in his heart of hearts, Bach must know that there is no way athletes from Russia or Belarus will be able to compete at Paris 2024 while Putin continues to occupy Ukrainian land and his troops remain there?

To allow them there, would risk just as big a split in the Olympic Movement as not having them in the French capital.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has already made clear her opposition to the possibility of Russian athletes being in her city for the Olympics. "For me, the Olympic Games are also a part of this world of geopolitics," she said in March. "What is happening today does not effectively put Russia in this grouping of peaceful countries."

Ukraine will not sit even in the same room as Russian and Belarus rivals at congresses and meetings organised by International Federations, so the prospects of Ukrainians competing on the track, in the pool and in the gymnasium against such enemies at Paris 2024 while their country is under attack is unthinkable.

The prospect of there being no Ukrainian athletes at Paris 2024, while Russians and Belarussians participle would expose the IOC to unprecedented ridicule. It would lead to Western sponsors re-evaluating their relationship with the IOC and could damage to the Olympic brand to such an extent that it would jeopardise the prospect of finding host cities for future Games in democratic countries.

In the interview he gave to mark the 40th anniversary of Moscow 1980, Bach recalled the campaign he led for West German athletes to be allowed to compete in the Soviet capital. "We think we are fighting for a good cause, and then I was insulted as a communist," he remembered.

Bach's perceived close links with Moscow continue to dog him until today. When Bach was elected IOC President in Buenos Aires in 2013, instantly a phone was thrust into his hand and the first person to offer his congratulations was Putin, who it is widely believed played a leading role in him winning the position.

Whether Bach likes it or not, his reign as President will be viewed through the prism of how he dealt with Russia, especially in the wake of the IOC's muddled, confusing and chaotic decision over how to sanction it following the revelations of state-sponsored doping.

Few outside the Kremlin believe the punishment imposed on it at Pyeongchang 2018, Tokyo 2020 or Beijing 2022 - where Russia was allowed to compete under a banner still containing the word "Russia" and in the colours of the country - really fitted the crime.

Allowing Russia to continue participating in the Olympics even after a major drugs scandal, is one thing. Allowing Russia to take part at Paris 2024 while the army is occupying and terrorising its neighbour, is a decision that could cause irrevocable harm to the very Olympic Movement that has been such a part of Bach's life for so long.