The decision was taken by the Bureau of the FIFA Council which took stock of the current global COVID-19 pandemic
The Women's Under-17 World Cup in India, which was postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic, was on Tuesday cancelled by the world governing body FIFA and the country was handed the hosting rights of the 2022 edition.
The decision was taken by the Bureau of the FIFA Council which took stock of the current global COVID-19 pandemic and its continuing impact on football.
The FIFA cancelled both the women's U-17 World Cup and U-20 World Cup which were scheduled to be held in India and Costa Rica respectively but handed both the countries the hosting rights of the 2022 editions.
"... with the inability to further postpone these tournaments, the FIFA-Confederations COVID-19 Working Group subsequently recommended that the 2020 editions of the two women's youth tournaments be cancelled and that the hosting rights for the 2022 editions be offered to the countries that were due to host the 2020 editions," the FIFA said in a statement.
"... following further consultation between FIFA and the respective host member associations regarding the 2022 editions of the tournaments, the Bureau of the Council has approved Costa Rica as host of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup 2022 and India as host of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 2022 respectively."
Originally scheduled to be held in five venues in India from November 2 to 21, the FIFA U-17 World Cup was pushed to February 17-March 7 next year due to the pandemic, which has played havoc with sporting calendars worldwide.
Due to the global health crisis, the confederations of Africa (CAF), North and Central America (CONCACAF) and South America (CONMEBOL) are yet to hold their qualifying tournaments.
Europe (UEFA) cancelled its qualifying tournament last month and nominated Spain, England and Germany -- its highest-ranked teams. The confederation of Oceania (OFA) did the same and nominated New Zealand as its representative in the U-17 World Cup.
Only Asia (AFC) conducted the qualifiers as scheduled. Japan and North Korea qualified after becoming the champions and runners-up respectively in the 2019 AFC U-16 Women's Championship.
The FIFA said it had been consulting with all stakeholders, including the host associations, participating associations and confederations, to continuously monitor the situation in relation to the pandemic, in particular with regard to any potential impact on the overall welfare and safety of age-group players and participants.
"These concerns included, amongst others, challenges around preparation time for age-group teams, and the numerous obstacles to finalising the continental qualification tournaments due to the pandemic," the FIFA said, adding that it followed 'health and safety first' approach.
"FIFA looks forward to continuing to work closely together with host countries to organise successful tournaments. FIFA together with host associations, confederations and key stakeholders, will continue to monitor the situation concerning the pandemic globally, as well as any potential impact on preparations for and the future hosting of FIFA tournaments."
The FIFA also announced that the Club World Cup 2020, scheduled to be held in Qatar in December, will be postponed to February 1 to 11 next year.
FIFA Club World Cup to be held in Qatar in February
The FIFA Club World Cup, originally planned for December, will now be held from Feb. 1 to Feb. 11 in Doha, Qatar, organisers FIFA said on Tuesday.
The tournament brings together the six continental champions from across the world, with European Champions League winners Bayern Munich the first to have qualified.
Last season's tournament ended with Liverpool beating Brazilian club Flamengo in the final.
FIFA did not state if supporters would be able to attend any of the games noting only that "In line with FIFA’s International Match Protocol, FIFA and the host country will provide the required safeguards for the health and safety of all involved."
A new expanded 24-team Club World Cup was due to be held in June/July 2021 in China but coronavirus-related delays to Euro 2020 and the Copa America, which will be held a year late, have led to the postponement of that plan.
