UPDATE: LEN now informs its federations that ALL LEN sports and non-sport events scheduled to take place before the beginning of July are being put on hold, postponed or canceled!
Directly mentioned are the Budapest 2020 European Aquatics Championships, the LEN European Masters Championships, the LEN Congress, all LEN European Junior Championships and all LEN Water Polo Cup Competitions
The circumstances linked to the outbreak of the coronavirus throughout the continent, the travel restrictions and the other measures currently implemented by most European governments forced the LEN Bureau to decide on the postponement of the 2020 European Aquatics Championships, the elective LEN Congress and the European Masters Championships. Each event was due to be held in Budapest in May. The proposed new dates are in August though this might be confirmed only in late May or in early June.
LEN President Paolo Barelliรย agreed with the proposal of the Organising Committee of the European Aquatics Championships in Budapest to move the event to a later date from 11-24 May, in wake of the current circumstances. Through a mail vote, the LEN Bureau took the decision to postpone the Championships, as well as the elective LEN Congress and the European Masters Championships.
รขโฌลAfter consulting with our stakeholders,รย weรขโฌโขve set a tentative date for the championships, 17-30 Augustรขโฌยรย President Barelli said.รย รขโฌลHowever, at this stage itรขโฌโขs difficult if not impossible to plan with a definite time frame so we agreed with the Hungarian organisers to reassess the situation in late May or early June to see if we can confirm these dates as official ones.รขโฌย
Mr Barelli added that in case things would not get back to normal in the coming months, LEN should consider staging the championships in 2021.รย รขโฌลOur common commitment and priority is to protect the health of the athletes and give them the best possible conditions to compete in a safe environment and, at the same time, celebrate a great Aquatic event, something Hungary has always delivered with excellenceรขโฌยรย he said.
Dr Tunde Szabo, Minister of Sports in Hungaryรย รขโฌโ former Olympic silver medallist swimmer รขโฌโ emphasised that the event could go ahead once everything is settled on the Old Continent.รย รขโฌลThe European Championships have always been an outstanding meet, a true highlight of any seasonรขโฌยรย she said.รย รขโฌลWe are committed to stage another great edition in Budapest, which is the birthplace of the European Championships. Ever since the first edition in 1926, each LEN event in Hungary was a tremendous success and we donรขโฌโขt expect any less this time รขโฌโ so we are patient and waiting for the appropriate time to host the championships.รขโฌย
The minister added that the Europeans should be an event where spectators were present.รย รขโฌลWe all wish to see packed stands in the Duna Arena. The magical atmosphere created by the fans has become a trademark of the aquatic events in Budapest รขโฌโ the participating athletes deserve to enjoy that once again. And of course they also deserve the chance to have quality preparations before the big events since nowadays itรขโฌโขs almost impossible to train properly. Indeed, few have been hit as hard as the competitors in aquatics where pool-preparations would be a mustรขโฌยรย Ms Szabo said.
The elective LEN Congress and the European Masters Championships are planned to be held alongside the main championships, the dates for those events are also to be confirmed later
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