The European Lacrosse Federation (ELF) and the European Lacrosse Championships Organising Committee have announced today that the Men's European Lacrosse Championships (ELC20), originally scheduled for 23 July - 1 August in Wroclaw, Poland, will not be held as planned in 2020.
In a statement released earlier, they made it clear that their “first priority is to the safety of lacrosse participants”.
They went on to say that “for this reason, the potential health risks and uncertainty posed by the global COVID-19 virus pandemic are simply too great to proceed with the event as originally planned.
“ELF are initiating a consultation process with the 29 team managers and National Governing Bodies that had planned to participate in the event to assess possible options for the Championships. Following this consultation, ELF and the Organising Committee will announce future plans for ELC20.
As a result of the postponement, the accompanying Festival tournaments, in which our Under 23 Women were due to participate, will also not take place this year.
For similar reasons, the ELF has also said that their Annual General Meeting, originally scheduled for early August, will not be held in Wroclaw this year either.
The ELF is currently exploring alternatives for the AGM, but they have said there will be an AGM in 2020.
They finished their statement by saying:
“We would like to thank our NGBs and the tournament organisers for their continued input and support, and the wider international lacrosse family for following the advice of public health authorities and doing our part, as a sport, to help combat the global pandemic”.
England Lacrosse would like to express its sadness and disappointment that the tournament cannot go ahead as planned but fully supports the decision as it is in the best interests of the health and wellbeing of everyone who would have been involved.
Jane Powell, England Lacrosse National Performance & Talent Development Manager, said:
"Whilst we are all disappointed that the tournament cannot go ahead as planned, we fully support the decision, being in the best interests of the health and wellbeing of everyone who would have been involved.
“We're communicating with the men’s national squad and all other teams on best practice for health and wellbeing during this time to ensure everyone is ready to hit the ground running once things are back in order and we now await future announcements regarding the tournament”.
England men’s national team Head Coach, Doug Shanahan, said:
“The coaches, managers, and players of England’s men’s national lacrosse team are disappointed to learn of the cancellation of ELC2020.
“However, at this unprecedented time in our world history, we understand the decision completely and appreciate the consideration to everyone’s health and safety.
“We shall continue to practice and train as soon as it is safe to do so, and prepare ourselves to participate whenever it is rescheduled.
“In the meantime, we hope everyone in the lacrosse community stays healthy and we look forward to better days ahead”.
To read the ELF’s statement in full, please click HERE.