The European Sambo Championships have been pushed back by two weeks ©Getty Images

The European Sambo Championships have been pushed back by two weeks in response to restrictions put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A decision to delay competition was made by the European Sambo Federation (ESF) and Cyprus Sambo Federation, which is due to play host in Limassol in May.

May 26 to 29 are the new dates identified, replacing May 13 to 16.

The dates were changed following an appeal to the Organising Committee from Cyprus' Ministry of Health and Ministry of Sports and Tourism, which expressed concerns over the current epidemiological situation in the country and across Europe.

Youth and Junior European Sambo Championships, as well as the senior competition and the ESF Congress, are scheduled to take place in Limassol.

The 2021 European Sambo Championships are due to be held in a bio-secure bubble, like last year's World Championships ©FIAS
The 2021 European Sambo Championships are due to be held in a bio-secure bubble, like last year's World Championships ©FIAS

Initially, the youth and junior events were scheduled to take place from April 16 to 18 in Cyprus, while the flagship European Sambo Championships were set to take place from May 21 to 23 in Italy.

However, the events were merged together, in a similar fashion to the 2020 World Championships, which were held in Novi Sad in Serbia from November 4 to 8 last year.

The European Championships are set to be held in a bio-secure bubble, again like last year's World Championships.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Sambo Championships were not held in 2020, and were last staged in 2019 in Gijon in Spain.