Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, several IOF members have indicated that they will not be able to participate with full teams at the upcoming World Orienteering Championships in the Czech Republic in July. Since allocation of starting positions in the Long Distance competition in 2023 by the competition rules are determined by the results of WOC 2021, this is deemed to be unfair to nations who cannot participate with full teams. The IOF FootO Commission consulted with member federations about how this situation best could be handled and based upon the results made a recommendation to the IOF Council for a rules deviation to be applied when calculating the federations league tables after WOC 2021 as these determine the number of starting spots available to each member federation.
Council has now approved the rules deviation which means that no member federations will be relegated in the federation league tables after WOC 2021, in other words they will not lose any starting spots for WOC 2023. However, member federations who perform well at WOC 2021 will still be promoted in the federation league tables and can therefore receive additional starting spots at the WOC 2023 Long Distance competition. This will slightly increase the size of the starting field at WOC 2023 but is felt to be the best compromise.
Link to Competition Rules (Rules §6.8 describes the method for determining Long Distance starting spot allocation. The rules deviation means that the rules text regarding relegations will be disregarded when calculating starting spot allocations for WOC 2023)
Federation League Tables