The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) has confirmed that next year's Beach Volleyball World Championships will instead be moved to 2022 to avoid a clash with the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The event is now planned to be held in June 2022 and will remain in Italian capital Rome.
Following a "meticulous review", the FIVB said it had agreed with organisers including the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) and Italian Volleyball Federation that moving the event was the best course of action.
The Olympic and Paralympic Games were postponed by a year in light of the coronavirus pandemic, which has brought almost all of the world's elite sport to a standstill.
Numerous events due to be held in 2021 have had to be moved as a result, with the Beach Volleyball World Championships joining a list which already included the World Athletics Championships.
Foro Italico, which hosted the 2019 edition on the Beach Volleyball World Tour Finals, will be the venue for the World Championships in Rome.
"We believe that rescheduling the 2021 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships was the best solution in light of the postponement of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020," FIVB President Ary Graça said.
"We are also delighted that this event will remain in Italy, a nation with a proud sporting history.
"Rome hosted a very successful FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in 2011, and we are extremely proud to bring this prestigious tournament back to the country.
"We may have to wait a little longer now to crown our new beach volleyball world champions, but it will undoubtedly be worth it when we witness the greatest players go head to head in 2022."
The Beach Volleyball World Championships are usually held every two years, with Hamburg in Germany hosting the last edition of the event in 2019.
Canadians Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes won the women's competition, with Russia's Oleg Stoyanovskiy and Viacheslav Krasilnikov victorious in the men's.
CONI President Giovanni Malagò said the organisation "fully share and support the decision to reschedule the World Championships to 2022".
Malagò added: "Everything must be perfect for this unique event in Rome while fully respecting all the values that, together with the FIVB, the Italian Volleyball Federation and Sport e Salute, have always been our main objective."
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