Paris, May 9 (IANS): The International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) has cancelled World Cup events in Meiringen and Villars in Switzerland due to the global COVID-19 pandemic which has wreaked havoc across the world.

"Despite all the efforts produced in the past weeks, the International Federation of Sport Climbing and the Swiss Alpine Club decided to definitely cancel the two IFSC World Cup competitions scheduled to be held in Switzerland in 2020," said IFSC in an release.

"The decision comes as a direct consequence of the ongoing situation caused by the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus, along with the restricting measures taken by the Swiss government," it added.

Initially, the World Cup in Meiringen was supposed to be the opening act of the 2020 World Cup Series, taking place from April 3 to 4, while the World Cup in Villars was expected to take place from July 2 to 4. But both the events were postponed in wake on the ongoing health crisis.

Many sporting events across the world have been either postponed or cancelled in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak which has claimed over 2.6 lakh lives thus far. The Tokyo Olympics has already been postponed to next year while the Wimbledon Championships have been cancelled for this year.