Russian and Belarusian athletes will not compete at Hangzhou 2022 after the International Olympic Committee said the plan was "not feasible" ©Getty Images

Russian and Belarusian athletes will not compete at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) concluded that the plan was "not feasible."

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) voted at its General Assembly in Bangkok in Thailand in July to allow up to 500 athletes from the two countries to compete at the Asian Games, due to open in Hangzhou on September 23.

The IOC agreed to explore a proposal by the OCA to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to take part in some of its Paris 2024 qualifying events at last year’s Olympic Summit.

The IOC said: "The concept of the participation of athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports at the Asian Games 2023 was explored as discussed at the Olympic Summit in December 2022, but was not feasible due to technical reasons."

An OCA spokesman told insidethegames that there would be "no Russian and Belarusian athletes [at the Asian Games], and it is IOC’s decision, not OCA."

Russian and Belarusian athletes were unable to compete at the European Games earlier this year due to the invasion of Ukraine by the two countries, which began in February 2022.

Following the vote at the OCA General Assembly, Russian Olympic Committee President Stanislav Pozdnyakov downplayed the chances of the country’s athletes competing in Hangzhou, claiming questions surrounded athletes’ preparations as well as the organisational, financial and logistical questions of such a scenario.

The news comes as OCA acting director general Vinod Tiwari held a meeting at the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) headquarters with India’s Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur and IOA President PT Usha.

India’s participation in the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games was among the topics covered with the country set to send a team of 634 athletes.

Looking forward to Hangzhou 2022 Tiwari said: "The fact that our 45 National Olympic Committees have entered over 12,000 athletes is a testament to the athletes’ enthusiasm.

"We’re very happy for Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games Organising Committee that all their hard work and dedication will soon come to fruition and that Asia and the world will witness a special Asian Games."

The Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games are set to run from September 23 to October 8.