The Hague Grand Prix cancelled

The IJF have pulled back the license for the Grand Prix in The Hague due to expected financial losses for both contracted editions in 2019 and 2020. A severe loss for the Dutch Judo Association where in 2017 the city council of The Hague announced the top event in the World Tour for a period of four years. The Grand Prix was scheduled from 15-17 November.

“It’s sad to conclude that the financial challenge is simply too big. The costs per edition are approximately 950,000 euro and those are not covered in full. The Grand Prix doesn’t fit in the subsidy policy of the Ministry of Sports” said Dutch Judo Association President Felix Thieme.

“ Our judoka are among the absolute world top in a highly regarded Olympic sport that belongs to the Dutch focus sports. Moreover, the Grand Prix is a fully-fledged part of the Olympic qualification for Tokyo 2020. All the ingredients are there for a top event in the Netherlands, but we couldn’t get the finances for another edition.”

For 2019 the Grand Prix of Montreal was already added to the agenda. Also the Grand Prix in Tel Aviv had the inaugural edition this year. In total there are now nine Grand Prix events, one less then 2019 as also Cancun doesn’t have a Grand Prix anymore.

Previously the Grand Slam of Brasilia was added to the World Tour in 2019 as well, so in number of events it’s still in balance.