Cortina d'Ampezzo was scheduled to host the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup finals, which have now been cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak ©Getty Images

The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Finals, which were scheduled to take place in Cortina in Italy, later this month have been cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Organisers today announced that the event, scheduled to take place from March 16 to 22, would be cancelled and not rearranged because of the coronavirus situation in northern Italy.

In a statement explaining the decision the FIS said: "The health and welfare of the athletes and all other participants, as well as the general public are the priority of FIS and all stakeholders.

"The recommendation of the FIS Council (to cancel the event) was made during an emergency conference call where the latest information and recommendations from the Italian, international and national health authorities of participating nations were presented. 

"The main issue that steered the recommendation of the Council was the travel restrictions imposed by an increasing number of national authorities, which would have likely limited the participation of several athletes."

FIS President Gian Franco Kasper said: "This was an extremely difficult decision for us to make, but ultimately welfare and health of the athletes, teams and everyone associated with the World Cup as well as the general public must be our top priority.

“We certainly did not want the season to end without World Cup Finals, but we must respect this very serious situation. 

"We look forward to recognising the winning athletes at a later date when we can properly celebrate their accomplishments.”

There are now more than 4,600 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Italy, while the country's sporting calendar has also been hit hard ©Getty Images
There are now more than 4,600 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Italy, while the country's sporting calendar has also been hit hard ©Getty Images

The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Finals in Cortina were also scheduled as the main test event for next season’s FIS Alpine World Ski Championships.

As the cancelled finals will not be replaced, the winners of each discipline and the overall globes will be finalised after the last scheduled races of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup season.

Currently, these are scheduled to take place on Sunday March 15, in Are in Sweden for the women and in Kranjska Gora in Slovenia for the men.

The other item of business discussed at today's emergency meeting was the FIS Ski Flying World Championships, scheduled to take place in Planica, Slovenia from March 17 to 22.

At the meeting, the FIS Council agreed to continue with preparations for the event, citing the fact that no travel restrictions are currently in place for Slovenia.

There are more than 4,600 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Italy, with 197 fatalities in the country.

Globally there are now more than 101,000 cases of the disease, and more than 3,000 people have died.