The Japan Table Tennis Association announced Thursday it will not send a team to either the Kuwait Open or the Qatar Open later this month after two Japanese hostages were killed by the Islamic State group.

The JTTA was planning to dispatch 33 players for the Kuwait and Qatar tournaments, which start on Wednesday and Feb. 17, respectively, but pulled the plug after it was warned about traveling to the Middle East by the Japanese government.

The JTTA relayed its decision to the organizers of the two competitions on Thursday.