In September 2021, the Budapest General Assembly briefly withdrew its support for the Championships after it was claimed that the Hungarian Government had given permission for China's Fudan University to build a campus on land where a student city was due to be sited at the expense of helping fund a grassroots sports programme.

That December, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony pulled back from his threat to block the World Championships being held in his city after claiming the Hungarian Government led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had bowed to his demands and given him what he wanted.

The row had rumbled on in the background ever since, though, until now Gergely Gulyás, Minister of the Prime Minister's Office, confirmed in writing that the Government will comply with an agreement signed in 2019.

Karácsony has responded by announcing he has accepted an invitation to attend the World Athletics Championships, due to open at the newly constructed 36,000-capacity National Athletics Stadium on August 19.

"Today, I once again had the honor (sic) of receiving Sebastian Coe, the President of the International Athletics Federation, at the City Hall," Karácsony wrote on his Facebook page.

"The President handed over his invitation to the World Athletics Championships, which will start in a little over a week.

"I was happy to say: I will accept the invitation."

As part of the agreement with Orbán’s administration, the Government will build a sports park in Ferencváros in an area close to the new Stadium to help encourage grassroots participation and provide HUF10 billion (£2 million/$3 million/€2.5 million) to help fund a healthy lifestyle for the next five years.

"The fulfilment of the agreement has been suspended from 2022," wrote Karácsony.

"I had no choice but to withdraw my support from the event."

Balázs Fürjes, co-chairman of the Local Organising Committee for the World Athletics Championships, was relieved a deal had been concluded.

"I am convinced that major sports events should only be organised in such a way that they help everyday city life and benefit the city in the long term," he told Hungarian news agency Index.

"Major issues require broad agreement, and major international sports events can and should be successfully organized only with the support of the city.

"I am glad that the World Championships can be a joint success."

Coe is looking forward to a great Championships that Budapest is hoping will help it achieve its long-term goal of hosting the Olympic Games.

The double Olympic 1,500 metres gold medallist is particularly excited by the brand new 35,000-seat National Athletics Centre, nestled on the eastern bank of the Danube River, which includes freshly-laid Mondo surface that promises fast times.

"This is a city that is prepared for a big event and having spent quite a lot of time in Budapest in the last year or so, there’s a level of excitement that I think will bode well," Coe said.

Am investment freeze, meanwhile, has led to the planned building of the Budapest campus by Fudan University, a national public research university based in Shanghai, being suspended.