Organisers of the Beijing Olympics denounced any linking of sport and politics as a contravention of the “Olympic spirit” on Thursday following the resignation of Steven Spielberg, the US film director, as an artistic adviser on the games’ opening and closing ceremonies.

In spite of its insistence on keeping politics out of sport, the Olympics organising committee (Bocog) joined the foreign ministry in defending China’s stance on Darfur, which had been cited by Mr Spielberg as the reason for his resignation.