THE Green Machine, Guyana’s Rugby team, will have to hang up their cleats until 2021, after it was announced by Rugby Americas North (RAN) the cancellation of their Sevens tournament, where Guyana happens to be the most decorated Caribbean side.

According to the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU), the tournament has been cancelled owing to the restrictions that countries currently face because of COVID-19.

“With the continued uncertainty and a landscape which is highly likely to change in the coming months leading up to the Sevens in mid-November, RAN EXCO have taken the decision to cancel the Sevens,” the GRFU said in a release yesterday.

It was stated by the GRFU that the decision was given to Member Unions immediately, “to avoid unnecessary training for the tournament, given the current situation in regards to travel restrictions, high levels of COVID-19 and the imposition of quarantine laws on returning residents in some member countries.”

In April, RAN cancelled their 2020 Men’s 15-a-side competition, along with the Women’s 10s and Men’s Under-19 tournament, which was set to take place July 8-12 in Nassau, Bahamas.

The Senior Men’s 15-a-side tournament was to get underway in April and doubled as the first regional qualification round for Rugby World Cup 2023. These matches have now been tentatively postponed to 2021, with further details to be confirmed.

Back then, RAN had said their Sevens competition would’ve been assessed as further developments take place.

Rugby Americas also cancelled the 2020 Under-20 Americas Rugby Championship (ARC) in Montevideo, Uruguay, which included Canada and the USA.

With rugby, like the rest of other sports, shutdown due to the COVID-19, World Rugby created a relief fund of approximately US$100M, to assist unions around the world as they grapple with the financial impact of the pandemic.

With fixtures either postponed or cancelled, the body said the fund is available to rugby unions that are in need of “immediate emergency funding” as long as certain criteria are met.

The global governing body was also exploring options for rearranging the international rugby calendar in the short term in preparation for sport restarting.

World Rugby’s contingencies include the possibilities that cross-hemisphere travel may not be permitted, which would impact on the northern hemisphere’s autumn series, and that no international rugby at all may be feasible until 2021.