International World Games Association President José Perurena has suggested some events may be cancelled or postponed ©Getty Images

International World Games Association (IWGA) President José Perurena has warned that qualification events for The World Games 2021 could be cancelled or postponed.

Next year's Games are due to be hosted in Birmingham in the United States but they could face disruption because of the ongoing pandemic surrounding COVID-19

Perurena said: "If Federations need to move or cancel qualification events for The World Games 2021, we ask them to be in touch with our office straight away.

"We understand the scale of the crisis, and we will work in every way possible to help our Federations that have to postpone their events, in preparing for the World Games 2021."

Canoe polo is one of the sports that could be affected by qualification disruptions due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic ©IWGA
Canoe polo is one of the sports that could be affected by qualification disruptions due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic ©IWGA

The IWGA were set to hold their Annual General Meeting at the SportAccord Summit on April 23 in Lausanne in Switzerland, after it was relocated from Chinese capital Beijing.

However, the re-scheduled Summit has now also been called off.

The IWGA are set to meet today to discuss a new date for their AGM.

Its headquarters in Lausanne are also closed due to the pandemic with staff currently working from home.

There have been more than 205,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, a type of coronavirus, worldwide with 8,272 people dying to date.