Hurghada had been due to stage the event from October 4 to 10.

The UIPM Executive Board said it had delayed a decision on whether the event could go ahead for "as long as possible in the hope that the competition in late 2020 might be feasible".

"The Executive Board has been left with no alternative to cancellation as global travel is still too limited to guarantee an appropriate representation for the world's largest gathering of teenage pentathletes," the UIPM added.

The UIPM has also agreed to push forward the 2021 Pentathlon Junior World Championships in Alexandria to March following the postponement of the Dakar 2022 Youth Olympic Games until 2026.

The UIPM 2021 Youth World Championships in Egypt have also been brought forward "to add relevance to training for developing athletes and give them more imminent competitive incentives".

"It is a source of great regret that we must continue to cancel or postpone different parts of the UIPM 2020 calendar, but we do so with the full cooperation of the local organisers," said UIPM President Klaus Schormann.

"The whole world, not only in sport, is making sacrifices to protect people from this virus and working to ensure that we can all return to leading a full life in a safe way as soon as possible.

"At UIPM we are committed to this principle and I can promise our global community that we are doing everything possible to reunite them in 2021 to take part in worldwide competitions and UIPM Congress.

"Until then I ask all participants in our movement to play a part in combating the spread of this virus by abiding by the advice of their Government and medical experts when undertaking training and normal daily activities."