The World Athletics Council has confirmed that the event, which was supposed to be held from March 17 to 19, will now be staged in 2025.

The Nanjing 2023 Organising Committee and the Chinese Athletics Association also agreed to the decision with new dates yet to be confirmed.

The Chinese city in the Jiangsu province was supposed to host the event in 2020 but was postponed until March 2021 and then to March 2023 due to the pandemic, before the latest development.  

This means that Glasgow in Scotland will host the next World Athletics Indoor Championships from Match 1 to 3 in 2024.

Nanjing was given 2025 to host the event as the bid process for the 2026 edition is already underway.

"We’re disappointed that we have had to postpone this event again due to circumstances beyond our control, but we have done so to give certainty to athletes and Member Federations preparing for the 2023 competition season," World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said.

"Unfortunately, the timeframe will prevent us from relocating the 2023 event, but the indoor championships will return in 2024 in Glasgow.

"We have offered Nanjing the 2025 edition because we are mindful of the substantial preparations the LOC has already done to host the event and we want to avoid potential financial losses for all parties.

"I want to thank CAA and the LOC for their cooperation in resolving this situation."

However, the postponement will not impact athletes much with many World Athletics Indoor Tour opportunities available throughout the year.

This is not the first event to be held in China that was impacted by the pandemic.

The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics was held in a closed-loop management system and rapid system.

Recently, the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games and Asian Para Games, which was scheduled be held this year, was postponed by a year.