In a press conference in the Belarusian capital the Norwegian, who was elected President in 2015, said the National Federation has done a great job in bringing the Ryder Cup-style event to Minsk.

"The Belarusian Athletics Federation has made a great contribution to the organisation of the match," Hansen said.

"Minsk will host a historic event for the world of athletics.

"Minsk has an excellent modern facility, Dinamo Stadium, which is one of the best in Europe."

The event will include every track discipline up to the 3,000 metres, excluding only the 4x400m relay.

It will also feature all throws and jumps as well as a 4x100m relay, while a mixed 4x400m relay will be on the programme before the event's debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Individual winners will get $7,000 (£5,500/€6,000) with $5,000 (£4,000/€4,500) on offer for second place and $4,000 (£3,000/€3,500) for third place.

Relay winners will share $6,000 (£5,000/€5,250) with $4,000 (£3,000/€3,500) going to second place and $2,000 (£1,500/€1,750) for third.

According to BeITA European Athletics Executive Board member Toralf Nilsson added that USA Track and Field have a strong interest in the event, although there were some initial issues that needed resolving.

"We had no particular problems while signing the contract," he is quoted as saying.

"It just took us a lot of time to harmonise individual items, but those were technicalities."

The match, Hansen confirmed, will be broadcast on Eurovision across 10, yet to be named, European countries, while the US have not yet announced which broadcaster will cover the event there.

It will take place on September 9 and 10, making it the last major event on the athletics calendar before the International Association of Athletics Federations World Championships in Doha.

Minsk is also hosting this year's European Games between June 21 and 30.