COVID-19: International wrestling tournaments postponed

By Emre Asikci

ANKARA (AA) - The United World Wrestling (UWW) announced Tuesday that all international tournaments have been canceled until June 30, 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“After consultation with the concerned organizers, the Technical Commission and the Sports Department, the UWW Bureau […] voted to postpone all UWW Championships planned before June 30, 2020. All international tournaments in this time frame are also canceled,” the UWW said in a statement.

However, the international wrestling governing body confirmed that the last-chance world qualifiers will be held at the end of April in Bulgaria's.

Also, the remaining continental qualifiers will remain in March and will be staged in their original host cities.

"We want to plan our calendar in alignment with the IOC and the new dates for Tokyo 2020," said United World Wrestling President Nenad Lalovic.

"We also find it vital to continue our work with host cities and concerned national federations," he added on the UWW website.

The world governing body also stated that they suggested all National Federations cancel their national events during the time to ensure the health of all athletes and participants.

Since the virus emerged last December in the Chinese city of Wuhan, it has spread to at least 184 countries and regions.

There are more than 1.44 million confirmed cases worldwide, with almost 83,000 deaths, and nearly 308,000 recoveries, according to the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.