The IFF said that September is the most likely window for the Women's Under-19 World Floorball Championship ©Getty Images

The Women's Under-19 World Floorball Championship, originally scheduled to take place in New Zealand from May 4 to 8, has been postponed and is expected to be rescheduled in September - but in another country.

Floorball New Zealand advised the International Floorball Federation (IFF) that it was not possible for the event to go ahead as intended in Wellington because of the country's COVID-19 entry restrictions.

The IFF has been in discussions with several associations who have expressed an interest in hosting the event but is yet to make a final decision.

"It is clear now that the event will definitely not be played in May, as scheduled," IFF event manager Sarah Mitchell said.

"Our discussions with a possible host continue, and the event being held in September 2022 is the most likely option, at this time."

The Women's Under-19 World Floorball Championship was originally supposed to take place in Wellington in New Zealand ©Getty Images
The Women's Under-19 World Floorball Championship was originally supposed to take place in Wellington in New Zealand ©Getty Images

Although the event dates will change, age eligibility criteria will remain the same.

Players born from January 1 2003 to May 5 2007 will be eligible to participate, meaning nobody will miss out because of the move.

The Women's Under-19 World Championship is the latest IFF event to be impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Men's World Floorball Championship qualification tournaments in Europe and the United States have also been postponed.

The second and third European qualifying groups were scheduled to take place in Łochów in Poland and Lignano Sabbiadoro in Italy from February 2 to 5.

However, with the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, many of the participating teams were reluctant to send delegations leading to postponement.