The 2020 Civil Contractors New Zealand CablePrice National Excavator Operator Competition has been cancelled due to the cancellation of Central Districts Field Days and concerns about the COVID-19 Coronavirus variant.

Civil Contractors New Zealand Chief Executive Peter Silcock said while it was a great pity, minimising risks of spreading the virus arising from travel and attendance at large-scale events was important, and the health and wellbeing of competitors, volunteers and staff who would have attended the event was paramount.

"It is with a heavy heart that we have made the decision to cancel the National Excavator Operator Competition. We have based this decision on the safety and wellbeing of our competitors, supporters, volunteers, sponsors and staff in terms of the travel requirements, and attendance at an event expected to be attended by 20,000 to 30,000 people."

Mr Silcock said at this point the association had not had time to consider whether an alternative event will be staged later in the year, but this looked unlikely at this stage due to uncertainty over the length of travel and event attendance restrictions.

The competition was originally scheduled to have taken place at Manfeild Raceway in Feilding between 20-21 March 2020.