Concacaf announced in a statement on Tuesday afternoon that the 2020 Concacaf League, which was scheduled to begin on July 28, has officially been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The news has implications for Canadian Premier League side Forge FC, who by virtue of winning the 2019 CPL championship last November qualified to represent Canada in this year’s Concacaf League.

Forge would have joined 21 other club teams from various North and Central American countries in the tournament, which provides a qualification pathway to the more prestigious Concacaf Champions League.

WATCH NOW: The CPL’s ‘Forever First: First international club match’ video

The 2020 Concacaf League was supposed to run from July through to November, but with many leagues and competitions similarly postponed due to the pandemic, it currently has not been decided when or how the tournament might be completed.

Forge also participated in the 2019 edition of the Concacaf League, for which they qualified by winning a CPL Fall season mini-table competition against FC Edmonton and Valour FC. Forge became the first CPL side to represent the league in international competition, beating Guatemalan outfit Antigua GFC 2-1 on aggregate in the preliminary round, and falling 4-2 to Honduran club CD Olimpia in the round of 16.

Last year’s Concacaf League champions were Costa Rican club Saprissa, who qualified for this year’s Concacaf Champions League along with five other participants from the competition (all four semifinalists plus the two strongest quarter-finalists based on their tournament results).

Concacaf, which also suspended the 2020 Concacaf Champions League in March after it had begun, indicated in its statement that it will be considering various proposals for resuming its club competitions, but that no decisions have been made.