MINSK, 16 April (BelTA) – The European Fencing Championships which were due to take place in Minsk on 16-21 June have been postponed until further notice, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Sport and Tourism Ministry.
President of the International Fencing Federation (FIE) Alisher Usmanov said in his official letter that a decision had been made to cancel or postpone all international competitions scheduled for April-June in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic. These competitions included the World Cup meetings which are the Tokyo Olympics qualifiers. The results of the qualification competitions held before March 2020 will remain valid. Rankings have been frozen and will be activated as soon as the remaining Olympic qualifiers resume.
According to the letter, the competitions will resume provided that the global healthcare situation is safe, there are necessary conditions for athletes to continue training, all the federations are able to participate in tournaments, and international competitions, including several World Cup or Grand Prix preparatory tournaments, are held beforehand.
“To achieve this, the FIE will hold consultations with the confederations, the Medical Commission, the Athletes' Commission and the Coaches Council of the organization. The national federations responsible for the organization of the tournaments will be contacted as soon as the situation allows,” the letter runs.
Negotiations are underway with the authorities of the European Fencing Confederation (EFC) to decide on the new dates of the European Fencing Championships, the press service of the Sport and Tourism Ministry cited Chairman of the Belarusian Fencing Federation Dmitry Shichko as saying.
The program of the European Fencing Championships slated in Minsk on 16-21 June envisaged 12 individual and team medal events.
