European Athletics today confirmed the cancellation of the 2020 edition of the SPAR European Cross Country Championships

European Athletics Cross County Championships, photo by Getty Images / European Athletics

This is the release by the EAA on the Cross Country Championships…

European Athletics today confirmed the cancellation of the 2020 edition of the SPAR European Cross Country Championships that was due to take place in Dublin, Ireland on Sunday 13 December.

As a part of yesterday’s Executive Board meeting held in Lausanne, Switzerland, European Athletics spoke with the Fingal-Dublin 2020 Local Organising Committee concerning the current COVID-19 situation in Ireland and the impact that this may have on the 2020 European Cross Country Championships.

It soon became clear that due to the overall uncertainty on hosting mass sporting events, the existing sanitary restrictions in Ireland, and the travel restrictions imposed across Europe due to the coronavirus pandemic, it would not be possible to host the event as scheduled.

“The decision to cancel the Fingal-Dublin 2020 SPAR European Cross Country Athletics Championships was a very tough choice for European Athletics. Following the cancellation of the Paris 2020 European Athletics Championship a few months ago, this was the last opportunity for a major European Athletics event this year and cancelling it was not an option we chose lightly,” said European Athletics Interim President Dobromir Karamarinov.

“I know that all the athletes and entire athletics community were looking forward to this event but I ask them to keep heart. I would like to pay tribute to both the local organising committee for their commitment and hard work to date, and to Athletics Ireland for their fantastic support while we deal with these difficult times for our sport,” concluded Karamarinov.

Chairman of the Fingal-Dublin 2020 Local Organising Committee Liam Hennessy said: “We are disappointed that Fingal-Dublin will not have the opportunity to host the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in 2020 but we feel this was the only decision to make based on the current situation regarding COVID-19.”