GENEVA, March 21 (Xinhua) -- The artistic gymnastics World Cup scheduled to take place in Doha in April has been canceled "in light of the current situation in the Middle East," the sport's world governing body said on Friday.

"World Gymnastics reports that, following an urgent online vote and in light of the current situation in the Middle East, its executive committee has decided to cancel the 2026 edition of the Artistic Gymnastics Apparatus World Cup in Doha, scheduled to take place from April 15 to 18," World Gymnastics said in a statement.

"The event will not be rescheduled," it added.

Since the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran began, many teams had canceled their application for the competitions held in the Middle East.

No penalties will be applied for late applications to the last two Apparatus World Cups of Cairo and Osijek in April, World Gymnastics said.

"World Gymnastics expresses its support to all those impacted by recent developments and hopes for a swift return to stability in the Middle East."

Furthermore, the World Gymnastics meeting also approved several exceptional adjustments to the rules, including the number of highest results to be taken into consideration for the rankings' calculation.

The Apparatus World Cup Ranking list and the World Championships qualification pathway for Apparatus Specialists will be determined by three highest scores on each apparatus in five competitions, regardless of the number of competitions the gymnasts participated in.

"Due to the exceptional nature of this decision, the official regulations in relation with the above will not be amended," stated the World Gymnastics. ■