The World Orienteering Championships (WOC) were initially due to take place from July 7 to 11 in the Triangle Region in Denmark.

It was postponed last month, with the IOF expressing hope it could potentially be rescheduled.

The governing body has confirmed travel restrictions meant there was an inability to guarantee fair competition conditions, while the impact of the coronavirus meant financial support was no longer assured.

"The event in Denmark was scheduled to be the first World Orienteering Championships consisting of only sprint formats," the IOF said.

"An attempt to move WOC2020 to 2021 has been made but the event calendar is tight with a Tour de France stage in one of the WOC host cities, the re-scheduled Olympic Games and Paralympics, and WOC 2021 in the Czech Republic.

"It has therefore been impossible to find a solution in Denmark which can be supported by the major stakeholders, where necessary volunteer organising resources are available and which fits into the international calendar to allow broad participation from national teams and spectators.

"The IOF has also investigated three other potential solutions for holding a sprint WOC in 2021 in another location, but each of these alternatives have proven not to be possible for similar reasons, i.e. uncertainties about the lack of stakeholder support, access to organising capacity and appropriate venues, and fit with the overall calendar."

The IOF has confirmed Denmark will instead host the 2022 World Orienteering Championships, which was previously awarded to Edinburgh, which will now host the 2024 event, pending final approval from all stakeholders.

The IOF said organisers of the 2021 European Orienteering Championships in Russia have notified the governing body that it will be unable to organise the competition.

It follows the Government of the region of Mordovia saying they are no longer able to provide financing and support for the event due to the follow-on economic impact of the pandemic.

The IOF said discussions are underway over the prospect of the Orienteering World Cup round one in Switzerland becoming the European Orienteering Championships.

Organisers are expected to confirm whether this is possible by the end of May.

Should it be possible, the planned long distance competition would be replaced by a sprint relay and complemented by the already planned sprint and knock-out sprint competitions to make up the programme of the event.

“Both the IOF and the respective organisers have really worked hard at trying to find realistic solutions to be able to offer our athletes a sprint WOC event worthy of Championships status," said Tom Hollowell, IOF secretary general.

"I really want to thank the various organisers for positive and constructive discussions.

"But it has been impossible to fit all financial, organisational and scheduling parameters together and find a solution.

"I am hopeful that we may have found a good solution for the EOC, but we need to give the World Cup organisers in Switzerland time to get the necessary support and refine the concept."