The World Football Summit (WFS) has decided to suspend all on-site events scheduled for the next four months in order to avoid any unnecessary risks.

The suspension includes the second edition of both the Football Innovation Forum (FIF20), set to take place in Istanbul (Turkey) on the eve of the UEFA Champions League final, and WFS Asia, scheduled for the 1st and 2nd of July in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

Announcing the decision, the WFA stated: “The coronavirus pandemic is posing an unprecedented challenge for the world. One that can only be overcome if the global community works together as a team and puts general interests over individual ones. This means setting people’s health and well-being as the only priority, and that’s what the World Football Summit team is committed to.”

“We are all confident that the end of this battle is near, that the ball will soon roll again and we will be able to gather around football and the rest of the things that make us happy. But currently there is no way to know exactly when this will happen.”

“That’s why, as painful as it is, we have decided to suspend all our on-site events scheduled for the next four months in order to avoid any unnecessary risks and inconvenience for our partners and friends.”

“We would love to give alternative dates, but at the moment nobody is able to predict when it will be safe for people around the world to travel normally and come together for large events. What you can be sure of is that this global crisis will only reinforce the first and most important of our founding principles: our commitment to serve the football industry through thick and thin. FIF and WFS Asia will be back.”

The World Football Summit 2020 is scheduled to take place in Madrid on September 23 / 24.