The European qualifier, scheduled for March 19 to 22 in Budapest, and the world "last chance" qualifier in Sofia from April 30 to May 3 have been rescheduled amid concerns over the spread of the virus.

The UWW said it expects the European event will be held in mid-May and the world qualifier had been pencilled in for the beginning of June.

According to latest figures, there have been 4,716 deaths and more than 127,000 infections worldwide.

The outbreak of the virus, known as COVID-19 and declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, has wreaked havoc on the sporting calendar.

Dozens of events, including World Championships, Olympic qualifiers and Tokyo 2020 test events, have been postponed, cancelled or relocated because of the virus.

Countries have also begun imposing travel restrictions and banning mass gatherings of people in a bid to curb the spread of the virus.

Wrestling is among the sports to have been impacted by COVID-19 and the UWW has not yet rescheduled its Asian Olympic qualifier, which Kyrgyzstan withdrew from hosting because of coronavirus fears.

The competition had originally been scheduled to be held at Xi'an in China before it was moved due to the virus.

The International Olympic Committee has granted some federations extensions to their Tokyo 2020 qualification period in order to ensure a fair process for athletes.

"We are closely monitoring the Governmental response to COVID-19 and will continue to provide updates to our wrestlers, coaches, and fans with more information as it becomes available," UWW President Nenad Lalovic said.

"The process for determining our Olympic participants will happen on the field of play, but we need to remain patient and vigilant as the worldwide community battles this pandemic. 

"The health and well-being of the athletes is an absolute priority."