It means that this second edition, scheduled to take place between August 5 and 12, will not take place as there is no time to find an alternative host for an event that was set to see 1,500 athletes from 130 countries compete in 31 disciplines in 14 sports.

Several disciplines not on the Olympic programme were due to feature at the Games, including coastal beach sprint rowing.

"We deeply regret this decision, not only for all the athletes that have trained and raced hard to qualify for the Games and were ready to travel to Bali, but also for the officials and staff that were working for almost a year now for a beach sprint rowing event to be part of the ANOC World Beach Games for the very first time," World Rowing said in a statement.

World Sailing added their regret after the cancellation of the World Beach Games, where wingfoil racing was due to feature.

"Everyone at World Sailing is deeply disappointed by the cancellation of the ANOC World Beach Games and we know that disappointment is shared by the Association of National Olympic Committees," David Graham, the chief executive of World Sailing, said.

"My thanks go to the World Sailing and Wingfoil Racing officials who had worked hard to make the sailing competition at the ANOC World Beach Games possible.

"In particular, I want to acknowledge that this will be especially disappointing for the athletes who were looking forward to competing and had spent so much time and energy preparing for what would have been a wonderful event."

It was not just the sports who were upset by the cancellation, blamed by the Indonesian Olympic Committee on the refusal of the Government in Jakarta to release the necessary funding to host the Games.

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), which was due to send a team of four coastal rowers and 16 beach handballers to the Games, were also left ruing the decision.

"Today’s news is disappointing for the AOC, the two sports and most importantly for the 20 athletes from coastal rowing and beach handball that were preparing to represent Australia at the ANOC World Beach Games," AOC chief executive Matt Carroll said.

"Our thoughts are with the athletes, sports, support staff and their friends and family who no doubt have been supporting the athletes in their preparation, all who I know will be disappointed at this outcome."

Some, though, saw the cancellation of the event as an opportunity, with former ANOC treasurer and International Olympic Committee member Richard Peterkin having been against the event all along.

"The recent cancellation of the ANOC World Beach Games that was due to be held in Bali serves to remind us of that ANOC has been drifting from its philosophical moorings and needs to abandon this vanity project and revert to its core function of advocacy," he wrote on social media.