Doha Diamond League meet postponed until June 19

PARIS, FRANCE - The Diamond League athletics meeting in Doha has been postponed for six weeks and will now take place on June 19 due to the war in the Middle East, organisers announced Wednesday.

The United States and Iran agreed on Tuesday on a two-week ceasefire to the war that has killed thousands and hammered the global economy.

The Diamond League organisers had previously said the opening leg of this year's series would go ahead as planned on May 8, but have now decided to delay the event.

"In the interests of athlete and spectator safety, a decision has now been taken to postpone the meeting. Should conditions allow, it will now be held on June 19," they said in a statement.

The competition will also be moved from the Qatar Sports Club to the Khalifa International Stadium in case of higher temperatures.

The Khalifa Stadium, which is temperature-controlled, hosted the world athletics championships in 2019 and matches of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The Diamond League is the elite one-day meeting series in track and field, a season that features 15 meets in 13 different countries across four different continents.

The first Diamond League meeting will instead be in Shanghai on May 16.

Several major sporting events in the Middle East have been postponed or cancelled because of the war the United States and Israel launched on Iran, including the Formula One grands prix in Bahrain and Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia.

Both were scheduled for mid-April and have been cancelled.

In football, the Finalissima, which was to pit European champions Spain against Copa America winners Argentina on March 27 in Qatar, was called off.

The Qatar motorcycling Grand Prix, initially scheduled for the weekend of April 12, has been postponed to November 8, while a gymnastics World Cup event scheduled to take place in Doha in April was also cancelled.

However, a horse racing meeting in Dubai, carrying prize money of $30.5 million and featuring the Dubai World Cup, did go ahead on March 28.