The ISA confirmed what DUKE reported hours ago: The World Cup has been postponed to 2021 and announced that the tournament will run from May 8 to 16, 2021 and that it will maintain the number of qualifiers for Tokyo 2021 without another event in between.

This means that everything will remain the same in terms of Olympic qualification, with space for seven women and five men.

Slater, for example, will have to go if he wants to be considered a backup in case Kolohe and/or John John get injured.

“In light of the global trend of the virus, we have decided that it is in the best interest of the health and safety of all involved to reschedule the World Surfing Games to 2021. Our decisions have been and will continue to be guided by public health experts and authorities,” said Fernando Aguerre.

He added: “We are in constant dialogue with our partners and stakeholders, including the World Surf League. We are confident that this postponement will put us in the best position to host a safe and spectacular edition of the event ahead of the Olympic Games. We will continue to monitor and assess the global situation, in the interest of the athletes and teams, in the coming months. Through solidarity we can emerge from this situation stronger as a sport and gain even more momentum towards surfing’s Olympic debut.”

Tourism Minister Morena Valdéz told the local press yesterday that the World Cup will be held next year, but did not provide specific dates. She also said that there will be two more international tournaments at the beginning of the year.