UEFA have set a deadline of August 3 for national associations to complete their league seasons.
The European Championships have been delayed a year with the calendar for next season’s Champions League and Europa League put on hold as UEFA wait for the 2019/20 season to be completed.
In Scotland there are still eight rounds of fixtures to be played which would take a minimum of five weeks to complete with at least two weeks of training needed before football resumes.
On current figures that timetable looks highly ambitious with UEFA coming under pressure led by the Belgian Pro League to call a halt on this season and prepare to resume with the 2020/21 season.
On Thursday, a day after UEFA hosted a video conference call, the Belgian Pro-League announced that they would be declaring Club Brugge as champions despite one fixture of the regular season to be completed plus 10 post-split matches.
Picking up on an interview with German broadcaster the Daily Record reports:
By August 3 everything must be finished, both for the Champions League and the Europa League. This is an extraordinary situation but we can play on the same dates as the domestic leagues. At the same time, we have to be flexible.
If the crisis stops then we’ll start earlier. We could play with the current system or also with straight knockout competition. That would either be a one-off game at the team that’s been drawn at home or on neutral ground.
The only wrong decision would be to play in a way that endangers the health of players, fans, referees. But if the conditions are safe, I don’t see any problems.
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SPFL Premiership clubs will host a conference call on Wednesday to provide an update with pressure growing for a decision on the 2019/20 season.