Column: Duncan Shearer.

With each passing day and statement from the Government it becomes increasingly clearer that the 2019-20 season is done and dusted.

The experts are predicting a minimum 13-week restriction of movement will be required if we are to flatten the Covid-19 curve in this country and come through this unprecedented period.

If that is the case, and I’ve no reason to believe otherwise, then surely it is a clear indication the season has come to an end.

The only decision therefore should be on what happens next? I believe the fairest option remains to call it all off and start again but I know that will upset a lot of people and the legal ramifications will stretch far and wide if the SFA and SPFL opt for that decision.

For starters the SPFL’s contract with Ladbrokes, the sponsor of all four leagues, and the broadcast deal with BT Sport, are both due to finish at the end of the campaign, while the SFA’s deal with Scottish Cup sponsor William Hill is also up in a few short months.

I expect all three would have a lot to say if the final year of their respective agreements were written off.

There are others who believe declaring the current state of play as final but again I can see that being met with more legal debate.

Forget the title and Europe. Hearts, who are bottom of the Premiership, are unlikely to take that outcome lying down when it is still possible for them to stay up in the remaining games.

The point I’m trying to make is that no outcome is going to keep everyone happy but it seems a lot of people want the football authorities to make the call now.

I can appreciate the calls from the likes of Dons boss Derek McInnes and his chairman Dave Cormack for clarity while Stenhousemuir chairman Iain McMenemy has appealed for leadership.

McMenemy, with some justification, feels the SPFL is waiting for another association to take the lead before following suit but I can understand why that is the case.

I also have sympathy for the governing bodies as it is a near impossible task trying to plan for the future when you don’t have any real idea of when any semblance of normality will return.

Uefa, for their part, made it clear at the weekend they are not going to be the ones bailing anyone out by taking control of matters.

We now know that won’t be happening after Michele Uva, the vice-president of Uefa, ruled out the prospect of any directives being issued by European football’s governing body.

They will decide what to do with the Champions League and the Europa League but domestic matters?

Back to you fellas.

CRUCIAL WEEKS: Hearts owner Ann Budge is likely to fight any shift to a decision that could deny the club a chance to beat relegation