In the wake of coronavirus outbreak across the world, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has postponed next year’s U-20 World Cup in Indonesia and U-17 tournament in Peru until 2023.
“The Covid-19 pandemic continues to present challenges for the hosting of international sporting events and to have a restrictive effect on international travel,” FIFA said in a statement.
“The global situation has failed to normalise to a sufficient level to address the challenges associated with hosting both tournaments, including the feasibility of the relevant qualification pathways,” explained football’s governing body.
FIFA looked forward to working with both host countries “to organise successful tournaments” in 2023, it added.
#FIFA postpones U-20, U-17 World Cups due to #Covid19 https://t.co/ZeRkLMbgoe pic.twitter.com/02ELIY85fC
— KHEL UPDATES (Sports Updates) (@khelupdates) December 25, 2020
Earlier, 2021 men’s and women’s U-17 European Championships have been cancelled due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Based on a constant monitoring of the development of the pandemic … the UEFA Executive Committee decided after consultation with all 55 member associations to cancel and/or postpone some of the 2020/21 youth national team competitions,” Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) said in a statement.
Euro 2020, UEFA’s flagship tournament which was due to take place this June, was postponed by a year and will run from 11 June– 11 July 2021.
The novel virus has infected over 7 crore people across the world since its outbreak. Over 17 lakh people succumbed to death due to COVID-19.
