European Athletics has confirmed the cancellation of the 2020 edition of the SPAR European Cross Country Championships that was due to take place in Dublin on 13 December.
The decision has just been announced after yesterday’s Executive Board meeting held in Lausanne, Switzerland.
European Athletics spoke with the Fingal-Dublin 2020 Local Organising Committee concerning the current COVID-19 situation in Ireland and the impact that this may have on the 2020 European Cross Country Championships.
It soon became clear that due to the overall uncertainty on hosting mass sporting events, the existing sanitary restrictions in Ireland, and the travel restrictions imposed across Europe due to the coronavirus pandemic, it would not be possible to host the event as scheduled.
It is a major blow having been one of the highs of recent years winning the bid. Athletes, Athletics Ireland and the running community were holding onto the glimmer of hope that staging the event would be possible but that has not proven to be the case.
No decision has been taken on whether the event may yet be staged in Dublin in 2021, though the 2021 Championships have already been assigned to Turin. There is, of course, the possibility of pushing everything back twelve months but that decision will be for another day.
“The decision to cancel the Fingal-Dublin 2020 SPAR European Cross Country Athletics Championships was a very tough choice for European Athletics,” said European Athletics Interim President Dobromir Karamarinov.
“This was the last opportunity for a major European Athletics event this year and cancelling it was not an option we chose lightly,”
“I know that all the athletes and entire athletics community were looking forward to this event but I ask them to keep heart. I would like to pay tribute to both the local organising committee for their commitment and hard work to date, and to Athletics Ireland for their fantastic support while we deal with these difficult times for our sport.”
“We are disappointed that Fingal-Dublin will not have the opportunity to host the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in 2020 but we feel this was the only decision to make based on the current situation regarding COVID-19, added Chairman of the Fingal-Dublin 2020 Local Organising Committee Liam Hennessy.
