David Shoemaker, chief executive and secretary general of the Canadian Olympic Committee, is unsure whether an acceptable definition of neutrality for Russian and Belarusian athletes can be found ©COC

The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) has said that only Russian and Belarusian athletes that publicly denounce the war in Ukraine should be considered for a return to international competition - but Canada's Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge has called for them to remain banned while the invasion continues.

Athletes from Russia and Belarus have been largely excluded from the global sporting stage but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is exploring a pathway for them to compete under "strict conditions" of neutrality with national symbols remaining banned.

Canada was among a group of 35 countries which expressed "serious concerns" over the participation of Russian and Belarusian competitors and called for greater clarity on the IOC's definition of neutrality.

Speaking to CBC Sports, David Shoemaker, chief executive and secretary general of the COC, raised doubts over whether the IOC would be able to provide an acceptable definition of neutrality.

"I don’t know if it’s achievable," said Shoemaker.

"I think we’ve asked for a lot of things to be addressed that would be really threading a needle."

The IOC has stressed that athletes from Russia and Belarus would need to "fully respect the Olympic Charter", meaning they have not actively supported the war in Ukraine and comply with the World Anti-Doping Code.

This would be enforced through "individual checks" on "all entered athletes", with International Federations required to remove them from competition and report the incident to the IOC should these conditions not be met.

Shoemaker insisted that athletes from Russia and Belarus must publicly speak out against the war as a condition to gain neutral status.

"If there's some way of having exemptions for those athletes who can prove to us that they're opposed to the war, we'd be willing to consider what the international community has in mind," said Shoemaker.

Canada was among the 35 nations that signed a collective statement expressing concerns over the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes while Ukraine remained under attack ©Getty Images
Canada was among the 35 nations that signed a collective statement expressing concerns over the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes while Ukraine remained under attack ©Getty Images

"I would weed out any athlete tied to the Russian military.

"They, by definition, should not be considered.

"We also can't overlook the importance of making sure that we haven't somehow elevated the importance of inclusion of those athletes over the needs of Ukrainian athletes."

Ukraine and Latvia have threatened to boycott next year’s Olympics in Paris should Russian and Belarusian athletes be allowed to participate but Shoemaker insisted that the Canadian team would be in the French capital.

"Under any circumstance this cannot evolve into a conversation where we're talking about whether it's appropriate or not for Canadian athletes to be present, they're not the ones who have done anything wrong here," added Shoemaker.

Yesterday marked one year since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

St-Onge, who was among the 35 politicians to sign the collective statement last week opposing a return of Russian and Belarusian athletes, took to social media to emphasis her stance.

"As [Vladimir] Putin's Russia continues its ruthless war against Ukraine for a year now, our Government reiterates to the IOC the importance of banning Russians and Belarusians from the 2024 Olympic Games," St-Onge wrote.

"Canada stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine."