The International Olympic Committee on Monday recommended that athletes from Russia and Belarus be blocked from competitions around the world, linking the isolation of individuals and teams from each country to their governments’ roles in the invasion of Ukraine.

The I.O.C.’s recommendation is not an outright ban: It included exceptions that could see Russian and Belarusian athletes continue to compete internationally, and left the decision on whether to bar athletes from the two countries to governing bodies and the organizers of events, a category broad enough to include everything from individual tennis tournaments or soccer’s World Cup.

And despite the recommendation, the rules and logistics of international sports left open the possibility that Belarusian and Russian athletes will compete in the Paralympic Games that will open this week in Beijing.

IOC Executive Board recommends no participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officialshttps://t.co/XZyLIi11XR

— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) February 28, 2022

The statement was issued by the Olympic committee’s executive board, which cited “the integrity of global sports competitions” and “the safety of all participants” for its recommendation, which, despite several caveats, was highly unusual. The I.O.C.’s statement represented an escalation in the isolation of Russia and Belarus, which allowed Russian forces to use its territory to mount part of the invasion.

“While athletes from Russia and Belarus would be able to continue to participate in sports events, many athletes from Ukraine are prevented from doing so because of the attack on their country,” the I.O.C. said after it noted its customary reluctance to “punish athletes for the decisions of their government if they are not actively participating in them.” The I.O.C. said it was issuing its recommendations “with a heavy heart.”

It will fall to event organizers and the federations that administer individual sports to decide how — or if — to apply the I.O.C.’s recommendation, which the committee suggested might not be enforced “on short notice for organizational or legal reasons.”

The International Paralympic Committee, whose board is expected to meet on Wednesday, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the Russian or Belarusian Olympic and Paralympic Committees. It is unclear if the Paralympic committee’s rules allow for the exclusion of a team or country for political reasons.

More than 70 Russian athletes have been expected to compete in the Paralympics, as well as about a dozen from Belarus.

Although the I.O.C.’s recommendation was not as severe as some critics of Belarus and Russia had sought, it gave cover for other sports organizations to take stronger actions in the wake of the invasion. FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, for instance, moved Monday to ban Russia from World Cup qualifying after it had initially declined to do so.

The I.O.C. and Russia have clashed in recent years over the country’s reliance on a state-sanctioned doping operation, but Russian athletes and teams have faced the most marginal of bans from competition. At the Beijing Olympics that ended on Feb. 20, Russian athletes appeared as members of the “Russian Olympic Committee” team that did not formally compete under the Russian tricolor or hear the Russian national anthem at medal ceremonies.

Monday’s recommendation, though, came after days of swelling irritation among Olympic officials, who last week pressed federations to cancel or move competitions from Belarus and Russia.

Beyond its recommendation to bar Russian and Belarusian athletes, the I.O.C. decided Monday to rescind its highest honor from President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who had received it in 2001. The Russian leader attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games on Feb. 4, when his forces were already massing at the Ukrainian border ahead of their invasion.

Tariq Panja contributed reporting.