Belarus city of Minsk, to host so-called Ryder Cup of Athletics between Europe and United States of America, 2019 September

A Ryder Cup-style match between Europe and the United States is set to be be staged in the Dinamo Stadium in Minsk, Belarus, on September 9 and10 next year. European Athletics has signed an agreement with USA Track and Field and begun operational work with the Belarus Athletic Federation. European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen said: "We are proud to announce there will be a match for the first time since the 1960s. We are going to include every track discipline up to the 3,000 metres for men and women excluding 4x400m.

"We will have all the throws, jumps and a 4x100m relay.

"There will also be mixed medley relay because there will be a mixed 4x400m on the programme at the Olympics in Tokyo 2020. There will be four athletes from each continent in every event competing for prize money."

Individual winners will get $7,000 (£5,500/€6,000), with $5,000 (£4,000/€4,500) for second place and $4,000 (£3,000/€3,500) for third place. Relay winners will share $6,000 (£5,000/€5,250), with $4,000 (£3,000/€3,500) going for second place and $2,000 (£1,500/€1,750) for third.

The match will take place in the newly renovated Dinamo Stadium, which was reopened in June 2018 and has the capacity to hold 22,000 spectators.

President of the Belarus Athletic Federation Vadim Devyatovskiy said: "We are glad that Belarus has got a big honour to hold this historic major competition.

"We believe the stadium will be sold out. The match will give a huge boost to the further development of athletics in Belarus."

Athletics will also form part of the European Games in Minsk next year, with with the new "Dynamic New Athletics" competition due to be showcased between June 23 and 28.

"We welcome the opportunity for our athletes to compete in a team match leading up to the 2019 World Championships," said USATF chief executive Max Siegel. "We look forward to visiting Belarus for this great competition."

The four divisions of the 2019 European Athletics Team Championships from August 9 until 11 will act as the qualifying event for the match and at least 10 Belarusian athletes are expected to represent Europe on home soil in Minsk.

Belarus has staged a number of high-quality and well-organised major athletics events in recent years. Hansen claimed he was highly impressed with all aspects of the European 10,000m Cup in Minsk in June 2017.

The Minsk Half Marathon, a five-star certified road race by European Athletics Running for All, is one of Europe’s fastest growing road races with 35,000 runners taking part this year. Next year’s race is scheduled to be held on the same weekend as the Europe versus United States match.