UEFA chief Aleksander Ceferin is adamant coronavirus will not spell Armageddon for football.
The president of the European governing body has issued a message of hope amid the crippling uncertainty facing the game.
But as clubs in Scotland face financial meltdown, Ceferin is convinced football will emerge from the crisis - and that fans will return to stadiums.
He also reiterated that familiar line that football is needed during the crisis, despite major worldwide concerns over the safety of resuming at this stage of the coronavirus pandemic.
"Covid-19 is something terrible, but it's not the apocalypse. We will get out of the crisis," Ceferin said.
"To overcome this crisis, football is necessary because it conveys joy and positivity to people. In no way will this pandemic put an end to our sport. It will take some time, but fans will return to filling the stadiums again with passion and emotions.
"Our sport faces an unprecedented challenge with the coronavirus emergency."
Ceferin's address at the Slovenian FA's centenary celebrations follows UEFA 's release of a £206million fighting fund to help member associations earlier this week.
All 42 SPFL clubs can expect to split a pot worth £3.75m between them, following the decision to end the Championship, League One and League Two seasons.
Ceferin said: "UEFA wants to help the associations to respond appropriately to specific circumstances.
"As a result, we have decided to allocate up to 4.3 million euros to the federation for the rest of this season and the following one.
"Each affiliated association will be able to use the funds, in addition to part of the investment funds, as it deems appropriate to rebuild a damaged football community.
"I think it's a responsible decision to help the football community as much as possible."
