The World Curling Federation has announced a further extension to its world rankings freeze ©Getty Images

The World Curling Federation (WCF) has confirmed its world team rankings will remain frozen for another two months due to "no significant change" to the coronavirus pandemic.

The WCF had announced in September an extension of the suspension - which was initially due to expire on October 31 - until November 30 but hopes over that being lifted in 2020 have been dashed.

With the world continuing to grapple with the virus, the WCF claimed it was the "only fair solution" to extend it again until January 31 and has not ruled out initiating a further extension beyond next month.

The news comes a week after the organisation admitted it would be prioritising the events offering qualification for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics after cancelling other competitions scheduled for the 2020-2021 season because of the coronavirus situation.

This year’s men’s and women’s World Championships were notably called off due to the global health crisis, while the World Mixed Doubles Qualification Event – which was scheduled to take place this month – has also fallen victim.

A statement from WCF read: "The World Curling Federation has further extended the suspension of the World Team Rankings point list until 31 January 2021.

Curling has been hit by a series of cancellations due to the coronavirus pandemic ©Getty Images
Curling has been hit by a series of cancellations due to the coronavirus pandemic ©Getty Images

"The initial point list suspension was previously extended until 30 November 2020, but it has been determined that there has been no significant change to the previous challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and as such a further suspension was the only fair solution.

"The decision will be reviewed on a regular basis to determine whether a further suspension will be necessary beyond January.

"Further updates will be provided when available."

The 2021 World Women's Curling Championship is set to be held in Schaffhausen in Switzerland from March 20 to 28, acting as part of the qualification process for the women's competition at Beijing 2022.

Next year’s World Men's Curling Championship is now scheduled to take place in Calgary from April 3 to 11 where it will form part of Curling Canada's "hub city" for competitions during the pandemic after being moved from Ottawa.

A potential host for the 2021 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship has yet to be determined, but the event is due to run from April 24 to May 1.