Matytsin said Russia would "build a training system in accordance with the new rules" after the ISU passed a proposal to increase the age limit for figure skating competitions to 16 from the 2023-2024 season and 17 from after that.

However, Matytsin claimed there was "some injustice" in the decision made at this month's ISU Congress and felt arguments that 15-year-old figure skaters would be unable to handle the pressure of major competitions were "ambiguous", citing the performance of Valieva at Beijing 2022.

Valieva was just 15 when she competed at the Games, where she helped the Russian Olympic Committee to team gold.

However, a medal ceremony for the event has yet to take place after it emerged that the Russian had failed a pre-Winter Olympics drugs test.

She was cleared to compete in the women's singles event by the Court of Arbitration for Sport but finished fourth after an error-strewn display and left the ice in tears.

The controversy prompted an intervention from International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, who said that the pressure experienced by Valieva was "beyond my imagination", and heavily criticised the skater's entourage.

The ISU Congress then agreed to raise the minimum age limit of figure skaters with Fredi Schmid, the organisation’s director general, saying the worldwide governing body had come "under pressure from a media point of view" after Beijing 2022.

Speaking to Russia's official state news agency TASS, Matytsin said he agreed to adhere to the ISU's ruling.

"Purely emotionally, we can probably talk about some injustice in relation to Russian figure skating, since many representatives of the Russian school have not reached the age that is now necessary to participate in major international competitions, World Championships, the Olympic Games, on the one hand," said Matytsin.

"On the other hand, there are probably objective data that, after all, children's sports or youth sports should be a separate part of sports of the highest achievements.

"The emotional and physical stress that athletes experience can indeed be overwhelming for the children who take part in this case at the age of 15.

"But we saw the example of Kamila Valieva, who, despite all the pressure and the hardest trials that she endured at the age of 15, withstood it, as I think that few adults would have withstood.

"Therefore, this aspect is absolutely ambiguous.

"It can be discussed from one side and the other.

"But the decision was made by the International Federation.

"Of course, we will be guided by it and build a training system in accordance with the new rules."

Russia is known for producing talented young figure skaters and American Tara Lipinski claimed women's singles gold at Nagano 1998 when she was just 15 – a year after becoming world champion.

Lipinski took to social media to express her opposition to the ISU's decision.

"Raising the age limit is a quick fix that will deny athletes a performance on the biggest stage, and ultimately not make a difference in stopping the abuse," Lipinski wrote on Twitter.

"These young athletes will still be skating under this broken system, you just won't see them til they are 17."