The international federation, UIPM, said the Championships will be held in the Russian capital from September 1 until 7.

The event had been scheduled for Cairo from September 16 until 24.

"We had to take this decision because the situation in Egypt is not stable," said UIPM's competition director Iris Vlahoutsikou.

"The Egyptian officials have told us they just wouldn't be able to host the Championships this year so Moscow was selected instead."

Last month the UIPM was forced to cancel a World Cup event that was due to take place in Cairo this week because of the political situation.

It is the second time thsi week the Russian capital has been picked to host a major international competition because of problems in other parts of the world.

On Thursday (March 24), the International Skating Union said Moscow would host this year's figure skating World Championships after Tokyo was forced to abandon its plans to stage the event following the deadly earthquake and tsunami.

The local crowd will be hoping the Russian athletes can repeat their performances at last year's World Championships which saw Serguei Karayakin win the men's title, the women's relay team grabbing gold and Russia easily topping the medal tally with a total of four medals.

The Moscow event will be the first time that laser guns have been used in the World Championships and three qualification places for London 2012 will be available.

Russian Modern Pentathlon Federation President Vyacheslav Aminov said: "It is a great honor and joy for Russia to welcome the UIPM family, one year before the Olympic Games."

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