A basketball official has accused the United States of breaking the Olympic Truce ©Getty Images

Basketball official Goran Sašić has accused the United States of violating the Olympic Truce in 1998, according to reports.

Serbia's Sašić, the executive director of the EuroLeague's Head Coaches Board, spoke during a panel discussion at a forum, according to Russia's state news agency TASS.

The Olympic Truce calls for the countries of the world to cease hostilities in the lead-up, during and after the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It was broken by Russia after the country invaded Ukraine in February 2022, in between the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing.

Sašić alleged that the US had violated the rule surrounding the Nagano 1998 Winter Olympics, TASS reported.

Russian athletes are currently competing neutrally in many sports but no decision has been taken on Paris 2024 ©Getty Images
Russian athletes are currently competing neutrally in many sports but no decision has been taken on Paris 2024 ©Getty Images

"They say that Russia violated the Olympic rules, but I want to emphasise that the United States violated such rules 35 times, almost 20 countries, including Serbia, were attacked six days after the Games in Nagano," he said.

The International Olympic Committee initially called for an outright ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes following the invasion of Ukraine, but it has since rolled back and opened up a path for them to complete neutrally.

No decision on if they will be allowed to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games has yet been taken.

Sašić, speaking in Perm at an event called "Russia - Country of Sports", added: "My country was sanctioned by a United Nations resolution, but at the 1992 Olympic Games, Yugoslav athletes competed under a neutral flag. 

"For me, as a Serb, it is clear that athletes from Russia and Belarus should at least participate under a neutral Olympic flag at the Olympics."