The two countries have been banned since March due to the invasion of Ukraine but athletes have been able to compete under the FIDE flag, banner and colours.

This was due to be enforced until December 31 of this year but has now been extended to January 1 2024 "unless decided otherwise."

Following that date, players will then automatically return to their National Federations.

"For the avoidance of doubt, Article 2.10 of the Regulations for Registration and Licensing of Players shall not apply to players from Russia/Belarus willing to perform under the FIDE flag insofar this Resolution is in force," read a FIDE statement.

Article 2.10 states that "FIDE flag players are not allowed to compete in FIDE and continental events."

A FIDE flag player is the governing body's term for an athlete that competes under its name instead of their country.

According to Article 1.4.2 of the FIDE Title Regulations, these players do not count as foreign but the Council has decided to change this so they are considered foreign "for the purpose of titles calculations and all related matters."

"All players who previously have been transferred to the FIDE flag, according to the resolution continue to perform under the FIDE flag unless they send a request to return to the flag of Russia/Belarus or to another federation," continues the statement.

"Applications for transfer to the new federation are considered within one month from the date of submission of the relevant documents by the new federation."

From when the resolution is adopted on December 15 until January 1 2024, each athlete can only switch to playing under the FIDE flag once.

Russian player Sergey Karjakin remains exiled from all competition, even as a neutral, after he publicly supported the invasion of Ukraine.

The grandmaster was banned for six months on March 21.