Olympic chief warns that barring Russians from competitions like Wimbledon could lead to arbitrary athlete bans across sport

• The All England Club has banned Russian and Belarusian player from this year's Wimbledon.
• IOC President Thomas Bach thinks the decision is wrong, saying such bans are a slippery slope.

International Olympic Committee President (IOC) Thomas Bach has hit out at the banning of Russian and Belarusian tennis players from Wimbledon, and warned that nation specific athlete bans are a slippery slope.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) announced in April that individuals from the two country's could not play at this year's Championship in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking to the general assembly of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations in Lausanne, Switzerland on Wednesday, Bach cautioned against governments allowing sport to become a "political tool."

"Look at our friends from tennis: in Paris, Russian players can play as neutral athletes; in London, at Wimbledon, the government is saying: 'No way.' And if we allow this, if we give into this, then we are lost," he said.

Despite Bach's comments, the decision to ban Russian athletes was instituted by the AELTC, rather than the British government.

"How can you guarantee then, in your sport a fair international competition, if the governments are deciding according to their own political interests, who can take part in a competition and who cannot take part?

"Then, if you open this gate, today it is Russia and Belarus, tomorrow it is your country, there is no country in the world which is loved by every other government."

He added: "Our task is that we have to realize that we have to get back to the day when we can unite the entire world in a peaceful competition. This is not the day, but we can only hope that peace prevails."

The IOC itself recommended that teams from Russia and Belarus be banned from competing internationally in sports following the invasion of Ukraine in February, but athletes should be able to compete under neutral flags.

Bach insisted Wednesday that the IOC's team ban was implemented because Russia and Belarus had violated the Olympic Truce, which had been agreed by the United Nations before the games.

The Olympic Truce is a tradition dating back to ancient Greece which calls for the "cessation of hostilities" between Olympic countries seven days before and after the games to "promote peace" and ensure athletes' safe passage in-and-out of their countries.

"To be clear, the Olympic Truce is directed to governments only," Bach said.

"Everybody who is supporting the war, can and should be sanctioned, but everybody who does not support the war, his rights must be respected, under our own rules and the rules of international law, there is no sanction and there should be no sanction for holding a passport."