It was the news football fans have been dreading, and hearts sank across the nation as new restrictions were announced on Tuesday.
From Boxing Day a maximum of 500 fans will allowed to attend SPFL matches, with that rule to stay in place for an initial three weeks.
Almost immediately the idea was floated of moving the Premiership 's winter break forward to ensure Celtic vs Rangers, as well as the Dundee and Edinburgh derbies, can be played in front of proper crowds.
Those matches are scheduled for January 2 with the two-week break to start the following day.
It therefore makes a degree of sense to move it forward and see two of the planned three weeks taken up by the break.
However, the big issue is whether Sky will agree to a proposed change to the calendar and if the broadcasters really do hold the casting vote.
Here's what you need to know as clubs prepare to make their decision.
What would it take to move the winter break?
While Rangers and Ross County are believed to be against, the proposed calendar change could be passed without them.
It would require an ordinary resolution, which means the support of 75 per cent of clubs in the league – at least nine of the Premiership sides.
That doesn't mean that 10 votes are locked in though – minds could quickly change depending on what Sky Sports think of the plans. Just on Wednesday morning, St Johnstone confirmed they are backing bringing the rest period forward.
Why would Sky be the kingmakers?
On the face of it, the broadcaster's view shouldn't matter as much in Scotland as it does in other top flight leagues around Europe.
The Premiership has a relatively small television deal, with 44 per cent of club incomes coming from matchdays in the 2019 financial year compared to just 13 per cent down south.
The deal has been improved since Sky took it on but on the face of it the absence of gate receipts is the real issue in this three week period.
Indeed, Motherwell CEO Alan Burrows has made clear the decision won't solely come down to TV although the broadcaster will be a major player.
He explained: "We have games on Sky that are regularly postponed.
"Clubs need to recognise Sky's role in this. My understanding is that the Sky contract is for x number of games that they get to pick based on the parameters that exist within the contract. But there isn't anything that says x game have to be played on x date."
However, after a curtailed season and one played almost entirely behind closed doors clubs are already feeling the financial squeeze – there's no way they'll want to upset the broadcaster. And if the break is moved, when would the games be played given Sky’s hectic programming schedule with English games. But more of that below...
Why would Sky be against it?
Put simply, scheduling.
Television companies want to know well in advance what is on and when, and Sky have already chosen their live fixtures for the festive period.
As things stand they'll show St Johnstone vs Celtic on December 26, Aberdeen vs Rangers on December 29, Celtic vs Rangers on January 2 and Hibs vs Hearts on January 3.
If those games don't go ahead as scheduled that's four gaps in their programming that Sky have to fill, and it's not like they can just bung in some extra English games.
Chuck in the fact people will be on holiday over the festive period and viewership will be higher than at other times of the year and you can see why a change may not appeal.
They may well feel entitled to tell clubs that they've paid their money and expect the product in return.
There's also the fact that modelling predicts the peak of the Omicron wave won't arrive until late January or early February - so there's no guarantee moving the break will change anything.
Why would Sky be in favour?
Despite that, there are a couple of reasons the broadcaster may be willing to agree to moving the games.
The first and most obvious one is that playing big games like the above in front of empty stands takes away a huge part of the appeal.
As we learned over 2020 and the beginning of 2021 it just isn't the same piping in fake crowd noise, and the atmosphere of Celtic vs Rangers is the main appeal for viewers south of the border.
There's also the matter of the Premier League and its own version of a winter break to consider.
After a full round of fixtures on the weekend of January 22, there are no English top flight games scheduled until February 7.
That means a whole weekend without games as the FA Cup takes over for the fourth round – Sky don't have the rights to that.
It's not hard to imagine that showing derbies from Glasgow and Edinburgh on that weekend could appeal if the schedule can be worked out.
Finally, Sky have shown willingness to work with clubs in the past, allowing them to sell pay-per-view tickets to manage the impact of the pandemic.
When will we know what's happening?
It's hard to say but we can expect things to move pretty quickly.
We'll have all the latest developments right here on Record Sport and in our LIVE blog below...
