Russia and Belarus have largely been frozen out of international sport since the widely-condemned invasion of Ukraine, but the IOC is exploring a pathway for their return to competitions under "strict conditions" of neutrality.

The IOC's move has sparked a furious reaction in Ukraine, and a group of 30 nations including the host of the next Olympic Games France have expressed their concerns and called for greater clarity on the definition of neutrality.

Writing in an exclusive guest blog for insidethegames on the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Zantaraia argued that the IOC's position would serve the interests of the states which it has sanctioned for breaching the Olympic Truce, and claimed that Ukrainian athletes have not been consulted.

"Seeing today that the IOC tries to lobby the return of athletes from Russia and Belarus is a brutal sign of their support not to the athletes from those countries, but to the propaganda machine which would then use the successes of those athletes in their favour," the world judo champion insisted.

"We have never had a chance to speak to the IOC Athletes' Commission, we did not have a single meeting together regarding return of those athletes to competitions.

"How can they speak for the athletes worldwide if they have never addressed us here in Ukraine and never spoke to us?

"How are the rights of Ukrainian athletes protected?"

Zantaraia claimed letters had been sent to the IOC Athletes' Commission, chaired by Finland's two-time ice hockey Olympic medallist Emma Terho, a member of the IOC Executive Board, outlining examples of "violation of the principles of Olympic spirit by the Russians".

But the NOC of Ukraine Athletes' Commission had not received information from the Athletes' Commission, about the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes.

Zantaraia questioned the feasibility of neutrality by claiming Russian medal winners at the Olympic Games would "finance the war and the genocide of the Ukrainian people" through binuses received.

The 35-year-old argued Russian athletes should only compete at Paris 2024 as part of a refugee team if they speak out against the war and renounce their citizenship, with a similar proposal suggested by Polish Sports Minister Kamil Bortniczuk at a recent summit discussing the issue.

The IOC said it "would like to clarify that the IOC Athletes’ Commission (AC) has had a number of direct engagements with the Athletes’ Commission of the Ukrainian NOC".

It said former NOCU Athletes' Commission chair Olga Saladukha and other representatives had "regularly participated" in consultation calls since the start of the war in Ukraine, and she had taken the floor at the European Olympic Committees’ Athletes Forum in June last year.

The IOC also claimed that the NOCU had been offered the opportunity to provide its opinions prior to the Executive Board's move to explore a pathway for the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes.

"Prior to the IOC EB [Executive Board] meeting, consultation calls were held with the IOC Members, the global network of athletes’ representatives, the International Federations (IFs) and the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) on 17 and 19 January 2023," it told insidethegames.

"The Athletes’ Commission of the NOC was invited to this call with the global network of athletes’ representatives as well. 

"Two members of the Ukrainian NOC AC had registered for the call, but none of them eventually participated in the call on 19 January.

"Following the call, the IOC received a letter from the AC of the Ukrainian NOC on 23 January, informing us about their position on the matter. 

"It was only at this occasion, that we also learned about the appointment of Mr Zantaraia as the new chair of the AC. 

"We welcome Mr Zantaraia to the network of athlete representatives and we anticipate his participation in future consultation calls. In all IOC AC communications with Athletes’ Commissions, the IOC AC always offers bilateral, dedicated calls in case there is interest. 

"This communication goes regularly to the Ukrainian AC as well but has not been taken up by them to date.

"In any case, the feedback from the Ukrainian NOC AC, which was received via letter on 23 January 2023, was taken into account together with all the other feedback received in the consultations."

The IOC has expressed its "solidarity" with Ukraine and vowed to ensure a "strong team" represents the country at Paris 2024 and the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Zantaraia was born in Georgia, but left the country at the age of five during the War in Abkhazia in 1992 and 1993. 

He went on to represent Ukraine in judo, winning six World Championships medals, including gold at under-60 kilograms in 2009.

He also won European Games gold at under-66kg in Belarus' capital Minsk in 2019.

Zantaraia full guest blog can be read here.