FIT and England announce the 2021 Youth World Cup will be deferred

We made this decision on several fronts but first and foremost is the health and wellbeing of the participants and spectators that an event of this nature will attract.

There are a great many uncertainties relating to the logistics for bringing 50 teams to Manchester. Many nations continue to have mandatory isolation periods for international travellers, and we don’t know when these will end, and air travel is operating well below pre-COVID levels. The availability and affordability of flights make scheduling and budgeting difficult for nations who wish to attend.

This uncertainty poses many risks to the viability of the event. For the participating nations, the difficulty in organising teams to go to Manchester was already complicated enough without these concerns. For England, as hosts, this difficulty translates into financial risk as teams may not be able to confirm attendances without travel and border security concerns being satisfied.

Timeline for further information

As more information becomes available, we’ll continue to review our position. FIT will advise in the first quarter of 2021 if the event is going to take place during the 2022 International Season.

We hope that this notice will allow all our members time and space to focus on their youth programs domestically as governments ease social distancing requirements.

We continue to look forward to the opportunity to come together for the 4th Youth Touch World Cup in Manchester as soon as practical.

Gary Reynolds - on behalf of the FIT Board
Chris Simon - CEO of England Touch