World Taekwondo said it was "disappointed" at having to make the decision, but said it was decided to be the best course of action to ensure participants safety and preserve a fair playing field for competitions.

"It is with great disappointment that we have had to take the decision to postpone our Grand Prix Final and Grand Slam events this year," said World Taekwondo President Chungwon Choue.

"We recognise this will be of great frustration for our athletes and fans but we are sure that they will understand this decision was necessary to protect their health and ensure a level playing field. 

"These are global events which involve athletes from around the world and given the huge travel restrictions in place it would not have been fair to go ahead when some athletes would not have been able to compete."

The postponements were announced at a meeting of the World Taekwondo Council held today virtually.

In other business, the Council paid its respects to former World Taekwondo vice-president Ahmed Fouly after his death last month.

The Council approved for Fouly to be posthumously inducted into the World Taekwondo Hall of Fame in recognition of his contribution to the development of taekwondo in Africa and around the world.

Fouly headed World Taekwondo Africa from 2004 until his passing aged 70.

Olympian Sarah Stevenson, a bronze medallist at Beijing 2008, who is now chair of the Taekwondo for All Committee was welcomed as the newest member of the Council.

It is her second stint on the Council as Stevenson also served as a member of the Council in 2013.

It was announced that Helder Navarro, Acting President of Taekwondo Pan Am will serve as World Taekwondo's vice-president until its scheduled General Assembly in October 2021, while Issaka Ide will serve as Acting President of Taekwondo Africa following Fouly's passing.

During the meeting guest speaker the Mayor of Goyang City Jae-jun Lee gave a presentation on plans to relocate the World Taekwondo headquarters from Seoul to fellow South Korean city Goyang.

The Council also approved to host between one and three Para Taekwondo Grand Prix Series events and a Grand Prix Final each year, a move made to reflect the growth of para-taekwondo, which is scheduled to make its Paralympic Games debut at the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

The next World Taekwondo Council meeting is scheduled for April 2021, while in a busy week for World Taekwondo the organisation's first ever virtual General Assembly is scheduled to take place tomorrow (Tuesday).