The IFC European Championships in Moscow have been postponed ©Getty Images

The International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) European Championships, scheduled to begin later this month, have been postponed until June because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The European Championships are being hosted by Russian capital Moscow and were due to begin on March 20, coming to an end on March 27.

A new start date has been set - June 15 - with the event still scheduled to run for eight days.

The event is due to be a final chance for European athletes to qualify for Tokyo 2020, where sport climbing will make its Olympic debut.

Sport climbing is the latest in a long line of sports to have Olympic qualification tournaments postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has brought much of the sporting world to a standstill.

Several European countries have shut schools and imposed travel restrictions as the virus spreads across the continent. 

The death toll in Europe has now moved past 1,790.

Two IFSC World Cup events - one in Meiringen in Switzerland and one in South Korean capital Seoul - have additionally been postponed.

Originally scheduled for April and May respectively, "both competitions will likely be held between September and October" according to an IFSC statement.

The IFSC Asian Championships, which had been due to take place in Chongqing in China from April 25 to May 3, have already been postponed because of coronavirus, while the test event for the Tokyo 2020 sport climbing venue went ahead without athletes as a result of the outbreak in Japan.