Football could be played behind closed doors for up to 18 months, medical experts have warned.
All elite football across the UK has been suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak, with no clear sign of when, or indeed if, the campaign will resume.
As of Tuesday night, almost 100,000 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the UK, with hopes that the peak of the outbreak is now approaching.
Prior to the suspension, Nottingham Forest were challenging for promotion to the Premier League, occupying fifth place in the Sky Bet Championship table.
The Reds have nine league fixtures left to play this term, with calls from several quarters suggesting the campaign could be resume behind closed doors.
Forest have been regularly backed by near-capacity crowds at the City Ground this season, which has proved vital in the Reds’ promotion bid.
However, according to one medical expert, Forest could be forced to play their matches in an empty stadium for the next 18 months, until a vaccine for COVID-19 is produced.
Speaking in The Times, Dr Zach Binney, an epidemiologist at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, thinks that it will not be possible for fans to attend sports events until a vaccine exists for coronavirus.
He said: “The thing that people need to understand, epidemiologically speaking, is that every person you add to a gathering adds risk,” he said. “Five people is more dangerous than two, ten is more dangerous than five, 500 is more dangerous than ten, 60,000 is very, very dangerous.
“Even if you have really low community-based transmission, it only takes a few people in that crowd of 60,000 for there to be a risk of something very significant happening.
“As a scientist, I hate to say I am ever 100% sure about anything but I am as close to 100% as I’ve ever been that we cannot return to filled-to-capacity stadia until we have a vaccine. Period.
“The best guess is about 18 months, could be a little more, could be a little less.”
