Now the third event in the four fixture series to be postponed, the competition in the French city was set to take place from May 20 to 24 but will now move to an unconfirmed date in August.

It now joins the first two events of the season in Hiroshima in Japan and Pu Yang in China to be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic which has more than 684,000 confirmed cases worldwide.

The only event still going ahead to date as scheduled is the finale in Chengdu in China from November 5 to 8.

Hervé André-Benoît, founder of FISE and chief executive officer of organiser Hurricane Group said in a statement, "We have decided to postpone all events on the FISE calendar that were due to take place before June 1.

"We have decided to limit our activities as much as possible and we have temporarily closed our production workshops and organised part-time teleworking for our employees who are invested in maintaining and continuing our activities."

He also spoke about the cancellation of the Montpellier event in his home nation saying, "This is an unprecedented decision and probably one of the most difficult that we have had to make since the creation of the festival in 1997.

"In France, and everywhere on the planet, we have to assume our responsibilities as citizens, as event professionals, but also as action sports enthusiasts in this fight for the health of all."

Other FISE series including the FISE Wake Tour, set for Spain and France, are also due to be rescheduled.