The Paris 2020 European Athletics Championships, scheduled to take place at the Charlety Stadium from 25-30 August, have been cancelled.
The decision was taken today by the Paris 2020 Local Organising Committee (LOC) and Fédération Française d’Athlétisme (FFA) at an extraordinary LOC Executive Committee meeting on Thursday.
The decision was driven by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the associated risks linked to the current situation, which are far from being under control, as well as the existing ban on mass gatherings in France.
Commenting on the cancellation of the European Athletics Championships, European Athletics Interim President, Dobromir Karamarinov said:
“It is with great regret that we announce the cancellation of the Paris 2020 European Athletics Championships. We had hoped in these troubled times to offer European athletes a major event to aim for at the end of this summer. Unfortunately, today we were informed by the LOC and French athletics federation that, after discussions with the relevant French national and local public health and safety authorities, they were no longer able to proceed with delivering the championships this August and were forced to cancel the event.
“Whilst we regret announcing the cancellation of our European Athletics Championships, it is worth reiterating that in these unprecedented times the health and safety of all athletics’ stakeholders including athletes, fans, officials, partners and everyone connected with the sport is paramount. We will always do what is best for the members of our athletics family and the wider public.”
The European Athletics Council will discuss this issue, together with other changes to the global athletics calendar that have been forced upon the sport due to the COVID-19 pandemic, at their next meeting which is scheduled to take place via video conference on 7-8 May.
All the ticket holders for Paris 2020 as well as those signed up for the 10km Festival Athlé will receive a full refund in line with a procedure that will be communicated in due course on the official website www.athle2020.paris.
