The German capital has hosted a World Cup event on 16 occasions - the most of any city since the competition started in 1988 - and has played host to a meeting every year since 1999.

The Schwimm und Sprunghalle Europa Sportpark, which hosted last year's Berlin World Cup event, is set to host the European Long Course Swimming Championships in August and it is believed that this may have been a factor in the decision to drop the World Cup event.

However, Qatar's capital Doha, which is scheduled to host the first of this year's World Cup meetings in August, will also be the stage for the 2014 FINA Short Course World Championships in December.

Seven of the eight stops are the same as last year's schedule, with Hong Kong replacing Berlin.

With the addition of Hong Kong, the 2014 World Cup series will see six meetings taking place in Asia including Doha, Dubai, Beijing, Tokyo and Singapore, while just two events will be held in Europe, in Eindhoven and Moscow.

The meeting in Doha is scheduled for August 27-28, with Hong Kong hosting on September 29-30, Moscow on October 8-9, Tokyo on October 28-29 and the final event in Singapore on November 1-2.

FINA has yet to finally confirm the dates for the World Cup meetings in Dubai, Eindhoven and Beijing.

Chad le Clos (centre) finished the 2013 FINA World Cup series as the top men's swimmer ©Getty Images