Olympic authorities have implored the British government to recognize the self-governance of the sport following their attempt to pressure sponsors over a potential route for Russian and Belarusian athletes to be involved in the upcoming Paris Games.
Last week, Britain's Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer wrote a letter to 13 of the biggest Olympic sponsors, urging them to pressure the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to abandon its proposal.
"It is not up to governments to decide which athletes can participate in which international competitions. This would be the end of world sport as we know it today," the IOC said Monday.
"We hope very much that the British government will respect the autonomy of sport.
"It must be the sole responsibility of sports organizations to decide which athletes can participate in international competitions based exclusively on their sporting merit.
"By this, Olympic sponsors are not involved in this decision-making process."
The IOC issued sanctions against Russia and Belarus after last year's invasion of Ukraine but is reluctant to exclude their athletes from the Olympics entirely for fear of a return to the boycotts of the Cold War era.
They set out a pathway in January for competitors from Russia and its ally Belarus to earn Olympic slots through Asian qualifying and to compete as neutral athletes in Paris.
Neutral athletes are not considered to represent their nations, and their successes are not accompanied by flying flags or playing national anthems.
Last month, the British government issued a joint statement with 34 other nations reiterating a call on the IOC to issue a blanket ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes from its competitions.
Ukraine has threatened to boycott the Paris Olympics if athletes from Russia and Belarus compete.
