UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin believes football with fans can return soon after providing an optimistic update on the future of the game.
Virtually all professional football around the world was suspended in March due to the spread of coronavirus, though following the resumption of the Bundesliga behind closed doors, there are now plans to restart the Premier League and other competitions.
Social distancing measures and extensive Covid-19 testing are likely to play a huge part in any return. But Ceferin has told the Guardian why he believes the situation will change "sooner than people think".
"It’s a serious situation but it is going down now and we are being more cautious," he said.
"We know more about the virus and in general I’m an optimistic person.
"I don’t like this apocalyptic view that we have to wait for the second and third waves or even a fifth wave … people you know are likely to die one day, but do we have to be worried today? I don’t think so.
"We are ready and we will follow the recommendations of the authorities but I’m absolutely sure, personally, that good old football with fans will come back very soon."
Behind closed doors games have split opinion with fans, with some believing all football should be suspended until it's safe to bring crowds back. And although UEFA have pushed the European Championships back until the summer of 2021, they still plan to complete the Champions League and Europa League - in which Man City and Manchester United are still involved in, respectively - over the summer.
Ceferin insists that football will be back to normal sooner rather than later.
"I don’t think that this virus will last for ever," he added. "I think it will [change] sooner than many think.
"It’s a new experience and when we get rid of this bloody virus things will go back to normal.
"Football didn’t change after the second world war, or first world war, and it will not change because of a virus either. People have said many times that the world will not be the same after … this might be true, but my point of view is why not think that the world will be better after this virus?
"Why not think that we will be smarter, or finally understand how fragile we are, how unprotected we are towards nature? So, there are always lessons to be learned."
