The International University Sports Federation (FISU) has announced the cancellation of several World University Championships this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following lengthy discussions held with various Organising Committees of the 2020 FISU World University Championships, the FISU Executive Committee decided to cancel 13 events which were set to take place between June and August this year.

The confirmed cancelled World University Championships are as follows:
• American Football from 4 to 14 June in Szekesfehervar (HUN)
• Cycling from 10 to 14 June in Nijmegen (NED)
• Handball from 15 to 21 June in Lodz (POL)
• Golf from 17 to 20 June in Taichung (TPE)
• Beach Volleyball from 23 to 27 June in Torremolinos (ESP)
• Floorball from 24 to 28 June in Koper (SLO)
• Triathlon from 27 to 28 June in Kecskemet (HUN)
• Sailing from 30 June to 4 July in Campione del Garda (ITA)
• Wushu from 11 to 14 July in Liaoyang (CHN)
• Orienteering from 14 to 18 July in Smolensk (RUS)
• Futsal from 19 to 26 July in Poznan (POL)
• Squash from 17 to 23 July in Shanghai (CHN)
• Muaythai from 17 to 23 August in Nur-Sultan (KAZ)

The announcement follows the cancellation of both the World University Ski Orienteering Championship, which was set to take place from March 23-27 in Rovaniemi, Finland, and the World University Cross Country Championships which was scheduled to take place in Marrakech, Morocco, earlier this month, while the World University Speed Skating Championship which took place in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, was drawn to a premature close due to the escalating COVID-19 situation.

The FISU Volunteer Leaders Academy (FVLA) in Kazan, Russian Federation, which was originally scheduled for 10-16 June 2020, has also been moved to September, with the exact dates set to be announced at a later stage.

FISU’s World University Championship Department will work on the possibility of rescheduling some of the cancelled events to the same period in 2021. However, the possibility of doing so will also depend on the International Federation calendar and the now postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

FISU said it will continue to monitor the situation daily and will keep all stakeholders informed of decisions and developments.

In addition, following the confirmation of the revised dates for next year's Tokyo Olympic Games to July 23-August 8, 2021, FISU approved a change of dates for next year's Summer World University Games in China to 18-29 August, 2021. Chengdu 2021 had originally been scheduled to start two days earlier, running from 16-27 August. 

The 31st Summer World University Games are expected to draw over 10 000 student-athletes and officials from more than 150 countries for 11 days of competition. They will comprise more than 200 medal events across 18 sports disciplines.

For further information, please visit www.fisu.net.