The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour has cancelled a further two events due to COVID-19 ©Getty Images

The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Beach Volleyball World Tour has cancelled further events in Gstaad in Switzerland and Espinho in Portugal because of the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

Gstaad was set to host a five-star event, the highest level of the World Tour, from July 7 to 12, while a four-star event was scheduled for July 15 to 19 in Espinho.

In a statement, the FIVB said: "All changes to the beach volleyball calendar have been adapted following consistent monitoring of the global situation and in full cooperation with the international and national health and sports authorities, including the World Health Organization and the IOC."

The tour is provisionally scheduled to end in August, but very few events are currently scheduled to go ahead.

Gstaad was set to host another five-star event on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour in July ©FIVB
Gstaad was set to host another five-star event on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour in July ©FIVB

Due to the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to 2021, the FIVB is working with the International Olympic Committee to adapt the beach volleyball qualification system for the Games.

As of March 16, the beach volleyball world ranking has been frozen indefinitely, a system used in part to qualify teams for the Olympics.

There have been more than 1.86 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, resulting in the deaths of more than 114,000 people.