The International Handball Federation (IHF) confirmed the three men's and three women's competitions, set to be staged across six European countries, will no longer take place this month and in April.

In light of the COVID-19 outbreak, and growing international concern over the virus, the IHF has pushed the events back three months owing to travel restrictions and Government bans on events involving a certain number of people.

The IHF had initially intended to hold the tournaments as planned despite the outbreak.

The worldwide body said "there are no plans to cancel upcoming events" the day before announcing they had all been rescheduled.

Spain, Hungary and Montenegro had been due to host the three women's events from March 20 to 22, with Norway, France and Germany set to stage the men's qualifiers between April 17 and 19.

Two places at Tokyo 2020 are on offer in each of the six events, comprising three round-robin groups of four teams.

"Even though the IHF and host federations were keen to hold the events as scheduled with strict safety precautions, ongoing challenges presented by COVID-19 since the meeting between the IHF and the host federations, such as travel restrictions and Government mandates led to a thorough re-evaluation," the IHF said in a statement.

The COVID-19 outbreak has caused significant disruption to Olympic qualification for Tokyo 2020, with numerous events either being postponed or cancelled.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach admitted this week there were "serious problems" with Olympic qualification because of the virus.

Bach and the IOC have promised, however, that they will find fair solutions for athletes.

According to latest figures, more than 6,000 people have died from the virus, while in excess of 162,000 have been infected worldwide.