The organisation says any athlete wishing to compete as a neutral must meet strict criteria, which will be finalised in the coming weeks by the World Skate Executive Board.

Athletes who meet the criteria will be granted individual neutral athlete status and will be able to compete in World Skate sanctioned events from January 1 2024.

World Skate’s Executive Board also voted to reiterate its "firm condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, to continue to support the Ukrainian sports movement, and to respect the rights of all athletes, regardless of nationality, to be treated without discrimination."

World Skate says its criteria for athletes to compete as neutrals will reflect the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board recommendations, which is that Russian and Belarusian athletes can only compete providing they are not affiliated to the military and do not support the war.

World Skate announced in April this year that it supported the reinstatement of Russian and Belarusian athletes, after the IOC updated its own recommendations.

Last year, World Skate was one of the later International Federations to announce a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes, doing so on April 2.

A decision on whether Russian and Belarusian athletes can participate at the Paris 2024 Olympics will be taken by the IOC, although when this will be announced is currently unclear.