Now taking place in 2022, the Maccabiah Games were moved after the Tokyo Games and the European Football Championship were moved from 2020 to 2021, clashing with the event often known as the "Jewish Olympics".

It will now be scheduled for July 12 to 26 2022 in Israel, with it being only the second time since its inception in 1932 that the Games have been postponed - the other time being after the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939.

It is recognised as the third-largest sporting event in the world, with 10,000 athletes competing in over 40 sports disciplines.

It was declared a "Regional Sports Event" under the supervision of the International Olympic Committee in 1961.

Maccabi Great Britain, who would normally expect to send a team of at least 100 people said they were disappointed by the news, but understood the decision.

"We are obviously disappointed but completely understand the reasons behind the postponement," said chairman of Maccabi GB, David Pinnick.

"This is a major sporting event which requires a significant planning period.

"With the current worldwide uncertainty, it is right to remove that pressure from the organisers, all the participating countries, and their athletes."

Joel Nathan, Team Maccabi GB general manager added: "We have had over 4000 applications to date and the majority of our management team are in place.

"We were planning trials, selecting uniform, arranging flights and doing everything else required for a squad of this size.

"Whilst the athletes see the preparation from a sporting perspective, it takes us almost two years to prepare for the event from a logistical point of view.

"Taking these sorts of numbers to Israel including 200 juniors requires meticulous and extensive planning.

"Whilst most things can be put on ice, the biggest disappointment surrounds our junior squad where the tournaments are age based and may mean that some athletes will now miss out if they will no longer qualify within the potential new age groups as they would have done, in 2021."

Worldwide, there are more than 4.13 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, resulting in the deaths of over 281,000 people.