Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet has added that, in such a case, the Organising Committee would "adapt" to the situation.

Four days after the IOC recommendation to International Federations last March not to include Russian and Belarusian athletes in their competitions, the IPC went the other way, announcing that Russian and Belarusian athletes would be able to compete in the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics, albeit under the Paralympic flag and without being included in the medals table.

But then the IPC announced that Russian and Belarusian athletes would not be allowed to compete at Beijing 2022 after multiple National Paralympic Committees threatened a boycott.

Parsons said at the time nations were "likely to withdraw" if the two teams were not banned, stating there would not be a "viable Games".

On November 16 last year the Russian and Belarus Paralympic Committees were suspended by the IPC.

In the meantime, the IOC position has shifted to the point where they are now trying to explore ways of including Russian and Belarus athletes in international competition as "neutrals", although no decision has yet been taken over their eligibility in any circumstances to compete at the Paris 2024 Games.

Asked during an interview to mark 500 Days to Go on Sunday (April 16) until the start of next year's Paralympic, whether he could it was conceivable that the IPC could get to the Games with different policies from the IOC on the question of Russian and Belarusian involvement, Parsons told insidethegames: "It is conceivable.

"I think we always want to be united in the world of sport.

"But I think the situation that we are facing has so many ramifications, and it can really change the geopolitics of the world we live in, that some different nations are going to think differently.

"Different countries are taking different measures in the world of sport.

"I think it is always good to be united but I think that the situation is so big that sometimes it's just not possible because we have different governance structures and people make different decisions.

"So it is possible, yes.

"It would be good if we all had the same approach.

"But due to the specifics of the situation, how it affects different people in different parts of the world, it's conceivable.

"It's a possibility."

Asked whether such a difference of approach would be something the Paris 2024 organisers could handle, Estanguet responded: "Yes - we will have to adapt I think.

"It's very clear in the rules that it is two different bodies that have the right to make their own decision on this chapter, as Andrew is saying.

"There is going to be an objective of unity and it's always simple for us to have this unity in trying to be on the same page, on the same line.

"But on the other side this is a very complex situation.

"And also the power of sport - its diversity.

"To have at the end this kind of complex situation, it's part of the sport movement.

"We have many, many different sports - Para Sport, International Federations, that will have the same approach and it's not easy to understand when we have to organise the Games, not easy to understand for people in the street that look at this situation far from us.

"But for us that are in middle of this situation, it's also something we don't discover. And we are also strong in our diversity, richness, and this is a strength for me to have all those Federations and different sports.

"It's not easy, it's not simple, it has to be complex.

"And this point is an additional complexity that we need to handle.

"And we will do it."

Estanguet then referred to what happened at the Rio 2016, where, following revelations of systematic doping by Russian athletes that nation was allowed to compete under a neutral banner by the IOC.

But they were banned by the IPC, whose then President Sir Philip Craven said Russia had "catastrophically failed its para athletes," adding, "their medals-over-morals mentality disgusts me."

"Again the situation is quite clear," Estanguet said.

"It happened in the past that it wasn't the same positioning between the two organisations.

"It's not for us the easiest way to deliver, but we will adapt and we will be of course flexible to respect their decisions."

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