At its council meeting on Saturday, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) awarded the hosting rights to the 2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships to the German city of Stuttgart.

Stuttgart beat off close competition from Rotterdam in the Netherlands to host the sport’s international flagship event.

The Stuttgart Worlds in 2019 will be a crucial qualifying event for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. 

Under the new Olympic qualification system accepted by the FIG Council at the weekend, the top three men's and women's teams from the 2018 World Championships will qualify for the 2020 Games. The top nine teams from the 2019 Worlds – not including teams already qualified in 2018 – will also advance to the Games.

Stuttgart and Rotterdam have strong traditions of hosting gymnastics events, both having hosted World Championships twice within the past 30 years: Stuttgart in 1989 and 2007; Rotterdam in 1987 and 2010. 

Stuttgart will also be hosting the 2015 Rhythmic World Championships, an Olympic qualifier, in September. The 2015 Artistic World Championships will be hosted in Glasgow in the last week of October. 

"Stuttgart is a beautiful town with a sports-loving and sport-experienced audience," said Stuttgart Mayor Fritz Kuhn, who was present in Melbourne to support his city's bid before the council's decision. 

We will be a cosmopolitan host in 2019, and welcome the international gymnastics family with us. But this is a close decision. Rotterdam and Stuttgart are absolutely on par in terms of sporting infrastructure."