The 2020 Indian Open golf tournament has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian Golf Union (IGU) announced on Friday. The tournament, which was originally scheduled to be held in March, was initially postponed to later part of the year following the outbreak of novel coronavirus.


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The IGU said that the decision was made in consultation with the European Tour, sanctioning partner for the competition. "It was a very difficult decision but the right one under the present circumstances of the ongoing pandemic," IGU Acting President and former vice-chief of Army staff, Lt. Gen. Devraj Anbu said in a statement.

"With no likelihood of any respite in the foreseeable future, safeguarding the health and well being of all players, officials and spectators is of paramount importance."

The tournament was originally scheduled to take place from March 19 to 22 at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurugram. On March 11 however, the European Tour and the Asian Tour said in a statement the decision to postpone the tournameny was made following consultation between the two and the tournament's title sponsor Hero MotoCorp Ltd.

"All parties are looking into the possibility of rescheduling the tournament at some point later in the year, but there are no definitive plans at this stage," said the European Tour in its statement then.

"In these difficult global circumstances, we fully understand and appreciate the recent restrictions introduced in respect of travel into India. As these new measures now prevent many members of both Tours being able to play in the tournament, everyone involved in the staging of the Hero Indian Open felt it was the correct decision to postpone the tournament," European Tour Chief Executive Keith Pelley said.