New Delhi, March 23 (IANS): The 2020 Federation Cup has been postponed due to the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) announced on Monday. The competition was scheduled to be held from April 10-13 at the National Institute of Sport in Patiala, Punjab.

"Looking at the present situation in the country and around the world, hosting any competition is difficult," AFI president Adille Sumariwalla said in a statement.

"Health and safety of everyone comes first and we can resume the competitions once things start getting better. As of now, we have not discussed what will be the new dates for Indian Grand Prix competitions and Federation Cup."

Earlier, AFI also had to postpone its season opener Indian Grand Prix (IGP) series which was scheduled to be held at three different venues -- Patiala (March 20), Sangrur (March 25) and New Delhi (March 29).

Till Monday, a total of over 400 confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported in India. At least eight people have died due to the disease across different states. As a precautionary measure, many states have announced lockdown in several cities across the country.