Chinese coronavirus forces World Athletics to postpone Indoor Championships to 2021
- Event is postponed until 2021 but will stay in Nanjing, World Athletics says
- Other countries have offered to host but championships will stay in China and will not clash with European Indoors
The 2020 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing have been postponed over fears around the spread of the Chinese coronavirus outbreak.
They had been scheduled for March 13-15 in the eastern Chinese city, with World Athletics saying earlier in the week that they were “monitoring the situation”.
“Should any of the WHO advice affect plans for the World Indoor Championships Nanjing 2020, we will notify all our stakeholders promptly.”
That happened late on Wednesday with a statement announcing the event was postponed but not cancelled.
“The advice from our medical team, who are in contact with the World Health Organisation, is that the spread of the coronavirus both within China and outside the country is still at a concerning level and no one should be going ahead with any major gathering that can be postponed,” it said.