The FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup, which was postponed to 2021 and was scheduled to be held in India, has been cancelled by the football’s governning body due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The FIFA also cancelled the U-20 World Cup, which was scheduled to be held in Costa Rica.

However, both India and Costa Rica have been given the hosting rights of the U-17 Women’s World Cup and U-20 World Cup respectively in 2022. The decision was taken by the Bureau of the Fifa Council which took cognizance of the current global crisis and its continuing impact on football and other sports.

“… with the inability to further postpone these tournaments, the Fifa-Confederations Covid-19 Working Group subsequently recommended that the 2020 editions of the two women’s youth tournaments be cancelled and that the hosting rights for the 2022 editions be offered to the countries that were due to host the 2020 editions,” the Fifa said in a statement.

“… following further consultation between Fifa and the respective host member associations regarding the 2022 editions of the tournaments, the Bureau of the Council has approved Costa Rica as host of the Fifa U-20 Women’s World Cup 2022 and India as host of the Fifa U-17 Women’s World Cup 2022 respectively.”

The U-17 Women’s World Cup, which was due to happen between November 2 and 21 this year, was postponed due to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic when it was still eight months away from its original date. The postponed tournament was scheduled from 17 February to 7 March in 2021 before it was cancelled.

However, due to the global health crisis, the confederations of Africa (CAF), North and Central America (CONCACAF) and South America (CONMEBOL) are yet to hold their qualifying tournaments.

“These concerns included, amongst others, challenges around preparation time for age-group teams, and the numerous obstacles to finalising the continental qualification tournaments due to the pandemic,” the Fifa said, adding that it followed ‘health and safety first’ approach.

“Fifa looks forward to continuing to work closely together with host countries to organise successful tournaments. Fifa together with host associations, confederations and key stakeholders, will continue to monitor the situation concerning the pandemic globally, as well as any potential impact on preparations for and the future hosting of Fifa tournaments.”

The Fifa also announced that the Club World Cup 2020, scheduled to be held in Qatar in December, will be postponed to February 1 to 11 next year.

With PTI inputs