Josef Fendt has confirmed that there will be no women's doubles races at senior or junior level during the 2017-2018 season ©Getty Images

International Luge Federation (FIL) President Josef Fendt has confirmed that there will be no women's doubles races at senior or junior level during the 2017-2018 season.

The German said that more work needed to be done before the discipline could be rolled out on the global circuit.

His comments come after women's doubles was added to the programme for the 2020 Youth Winter Olympic Games in Lausanne.

Fendt said that this was a "new challenge" for his sport.

Men's doubles is currently an Olympic discipline and is also a regular fixture during FIL World Cup seasons. 

With the International Olympic Committee (IOC) demanding gender equality across all sports, there will be pressure to grow the women's doubles discipline.

Summer sports have already had to make changes in order to achieve a balance between male and female medal events at Tokyo 2020.

Men's doubles luge is already an established Olympic discipline ©Getty Images
Men's doubles luge is already an established Olympic discipline ©Getty Images

"Our specialists in the technology and sporting commissions will be getting together to find proper solutions for the women's doubles competition," Fendt said.

Women's doubles was added to the Lausanne 2020 programme by the IOC Executive Board earlier this month.

Ski mountaineering was also approved as the eighth sport on the programme, with a mixed-nationality 3x3 ice hockey tournament and a women’s Nordic combined ski event also added. 

"This gender equality reflects what has been previously achieved for the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018 and the significant steps announced last month in the programme for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020," an IOC statement said after the announcement.