Badminton World Federation and Badminton Denmark on Wednesday announced the postponement of the Thomas/Uber Cup team championship to October 3-11 after the Danish government banned “large gatherings” till the end of August.

The prestigious biennial event, which was originally scheduled to be held in May, had earlier been postponed to August 15-23 following the coronavirus outbreak. However, the new dates also became untenable after the government of Denmark extended their ban on large gathering.

“BWF in consultation and consensus with Badminton Denmark, tournament organisers, Sport Event Denmark and the local Aarhus government concluded that a move to October was the best solution,” Badminton Denmark said in a release.

Speaking about the postponement, BWF Secretary General Thomas Lund said, “Our main priority is the health, safety and well being of athletes, staff, volunteers, judges and the entire badminton community.

“We listened to the advice of the World Health Organisation, various health experts, local authorities and the Danish Government and it became clear that hosting a big event like the BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals before September would be difficult.

“We are confident that we can stage a safe and successful championships on the new dates of 3-11 October while all the time monitoring the situation closely should things change again,” he was quoted as saying.

BWF’s 2020 AGM and Members’ Forum meetings were also to be held during the same week and the world body is looking at other ways to conduct those meetings.