USA Baseball have been forced to cancel events in Arizona ©USA Baseball

USA Baseball has announced that its National Team Championships in Arizona have been cancelled amid a rise in coronavirus transmissions in the state.

The national governing body confirmed the event will not be rescheduled in 2020, with the competition returning next year.

USA Baseball chief executive Paul Seiler said the decision had been made to protect the health of participants.

"It is disappointing to announce the cancellation of our National Team Championships Arizona for this summer, however, we feel this course of action is prudent in order to protect the long-term health, safety and well-being of the thousands of participants and their families who attend this event every year," Seiler said.

"Our focus now turns toward the future and working with the many tremendous Major League Baseball Spring Training facilities in the Greater Phoenix area to host this world-class national team identification event again in 2021."

Four age group events were scheduled to take place in Arizona.

Competition would have begun with the Under-14 and Under-15 National Team Championships, which would have taken place from July 27 to 30.

The National Team Championships for the under-16 and 17 age groups were then set to take place from July 31 to August 3.

The National Team Championships are tournaments held across Arizona, Florida and North Carolina.

The events are aimed at giving athletes the opportunity to be selected for national team development programmes.

USA Baseball said it is continuing to monitor the ongoing situation regarding the coronavirus pandemic, as it evaluates the remaining events on the 2020 calendar.

The national governing body says decisions will be made in accordance with Government guidelines and with the safety and well-being of athletes, coaches and spectators in mind.

National Team Championship events in North Carolina are still scheduled to take place, beginning with an under-17 competition from July 27.

Provisional dates for next year's National Team Championships in Arizona have been set, USA Baseball said.

The organisation aims to hold the under-17 tournament from June 14 to 21 next year, with the under-15 competition following from June 22 to 29.

The under-14 and under-16 competitions are expected to take place from June 30 to July 7.