The Belarusian capital of Minsk was given the hosting rights for the events in October 2018, but the decision has now been overturned. 

This is because the Belarusian Ministry of Sports could not provide the necessary advanced payments and insurance, as reported by Chess.com. 

"We should note a violation of certain financial obligations on the part of the organisers," said FIDE's legal advisor Aleksandr Martynov.

"Out of respect for the organisers, we would not like to specify the amounts, but these are quite significant violations.

"FIDE has been conducting negotiations in good faith for several months, but, unfortunately, they have not been successful. 

"The violations and their significance are not disputed by the organisers."

The FIDE have now reopened the bidding procedure for the 2022 Congress and Chess Olympiad, and are also seeking hosts for the 2021 World Cup and 2020 Women's World Cup, which is scheduled to be held in April 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Belarus is currently dealing with the global health crisis and anti-Government protests which have been staged across the country since the controversial re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko on August 9. 

Lukashenko, who has ruled the country since 1994, supposedly won with 80 per cent of the vote, but the election was deemed to be "neither free nor fair".

There have been violent scenes and clashes between demonstrators and police in the Belarusian capital of Minsk in particular.  

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich rejected the idea the protests were linked to the withdrawal of hosting rights for the Chess Olympiad, but admitted "it doesn't help".

Belarus Chess Federation President and FIDE vice-president Anastasia Sorokina was among the signatories of an open letter from the country's sports stars calling for the election result to be overturned.