THE 2020 Summer Bash has been cancelled, the Rugby Football League and the Betfred Championship clubs have confirmed.

York City Knights were scheduled to face Halifax in the second tier's showpiece event at Blackpool's Bloomfield Road on Saturday, May 30.

The match would have been York's second Bash game, having lost 40-12 to Featherstone last year.

Given that all rugby league action on the field is currently suspended amid the coronavirus pandemic, the sport's governing body decided that there was little chance that the event, due to take place in just over a month, of going ahead considering the country's current lockdown status.

"The RFL and the clubs have agreed there is no realistic prospect of staging the event as planned this year – and that it is best to make the decision now for the clarity of clubs, players, supporters and other stakeholders," read an RFL statement.

"The concept of a round of fixtures being played at a single venue at some stage in 2020 – whether in the Betfred Championship and/or League 1, or the AB Sundecks 1895 Cup – remains one of the possibilities in the wide variety of options in the contingency planning being considered by the RFL and the clubs.

"Supporters who have bought tickets for the Summer Bash in Blackpool from the RFL will be contacted directly and will now be entitled to a credit for a ticket to another major Rugby League event this year or in 2021, including the Rugby League World Cup or to a full refund – details here.

"Those supporters who bought tickets from clubs should contact the relevant club about refund arrangements."