Wednesday 11 March 2020 18:16, UK
The coronavirus threat has forced golf authorities in Asia and the Middle East to postpone several upcoming tournaments.
The MENA Tour, based in Dubai, issued a statement confirming that the remainder of their 2020 season has been postponed until September, while the Asian Tour have called off next week's Royal's Cup in Thailand.
The European Tour announced last month that The Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur and the Volvo China Open had both been pulled from the schedule, with the Tour "investigating alternative dates for both events".
The MENA Tour have now delayed six tournaments which they are planning to reschedule for between September and December.
A statement posted on social media read: "The MENA Tour by Arena has been closely monitoring all channels of information related to issues involving COVID-19. As an international Tour, the health and safety of our players, staff, venue partners and partners is our paramount goal.
"Accordingly, we are going to postpone the final six tournaments of the 2020 MENA Tour season and reschedule them between September - December. We will endeavour to release the revised schedule by the end of this month."
The Asia Tour then announced: "The Royal's Cup 2020 scheduled to be played at the Grand Prix Golf Club in Kanchanaburi next week will be postponed due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns.
"The continued health concerns and advisories from the Thailand health authorities means that the inaugural event will be postponed to a later date."
Asian Tour commissioner and CEO, Cho Minn Thant, added: "The Asian Tour and the event promoter- Grand Prix International have decided to postpone the Royal's Cup 2020 on the advice of the health authorities of Thailand.
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"Up until this week, the promoter, sponsors and the Tour were committed to delivering the event as scheduled.
"However the current situation is now beyond our control. While we are disappointed the Royal's Cup 2020 will be postponed, the health and safety of our players, staff and officials remain our highest priority and we look forward to announcing its return when the situation has stabilised."
