The Diamond League’s season-opening event in Doha has been postponed until June amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
The meeting, the first of 15 stops on the Diamond League circuit this season, was set to be held at the Qatar Sports Club on 8 May but will instead take place at the Khalifa International Stadium on 19 June “should conditions allow”.
It comes after conflict was sparked across the Middle East when the US and Israel launched wide-ranging strikes on Iran in February.
This year’s Diamond League series will now begin on 16 May in Keqiao, China.
The decision to also change the venue of the Doha meeting was taken because of Qatar’s scorching summer temperatures, which can exceed 40C in June.
The Khalifa International Stadium, which hosted the World Athletics Championships in 2019, is temperature regulated to allow for safe competition.
The new date of the Doha event will fall between the Oslo (10 June) and Paris (28 June) Diamond League meetings, making it the eighth leg of this year’s series.
Diamond League organisers said they would “continue to monitor developments in the Middle East in the coming weeks”.
“The series and meeting organisers remain committed to delivering the highest level of safe and secure competition for athletes, media and spectators,” they added in a statement on Wednesday.
Several high-profile sporting events have been affected by the crisis in the Middle East, including the cancellation of Formula 1 Grand Prix weekends in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in April.