The Coronavirus continues to take its toll on the international sporting calendar, with the International Judo Federation pushing back the 2020 Tokyo Olympics qualifications until April 30.
It also includes the cancellation of the Ekaterinburg Grand Slam in Russia and the grands prix in Tbilisi in Georgia and Antalya in Turkey.
The UAE's Moldovan-born judokas Victor Scvortov and Ivan Remarenco were to take part in the Ekaterinburg Grand Slam at the weekend as part of their preparation for the Tokyo Games.
They were to fly over for the competition from their training camp in the Czech Republic, but they will now head back to Moldova and continue with their training.
"They will take a break and then continue with their preparation for the 2020 Olympics, for which they have already qualified," said Nasser Al Tamimi, general secretary of the UAE Wrestling and Judo Federation.
“The last Olympic qualifications were to close in May and now it has been extended until June by the IJF. It doesn’t matter for us anyway as we don’t have anybody else after Victor and Ivan already qualified for the Games.”
The IJF announced it had postponed or cancelled all competitions in light of the continuous new developments in the Covid-19 crisis and the deterioration of the situation in many countries.
“We are in the unfortunate position where we must take a drastic decision in order to protect the judo family and also to comply with the general safety measures all around the world,” the IJF said.
"The IJF Executive Committee has taken the emergency decision to cancel with immediate effect all Olympic qualification events on the IJF Calendar until April 30, 2020.
“It is of paramount importance to keep the judo family safe in these difficult times, and also to ensure fair chances for all athletes engaged in the Olympic qualification."
