Last weekend, my team, Arsenal, should have been at home to Premier League leaders Liverpool.I was looking forward to going to The Emirates to watch a scintillating game of football with, hopefully, the right result: Three points to The Mighty Gunners.

Alas, it was not to be. Like every other Premier League game, and like every other major sporting event, the match was cancelled.

Now, Premier League clubs find themselves on the horns of a dilemma: what to do about a football season that now lies in ruins. The clubs have held several meetings to discuss the so-called “project restart”. There is a lot of money at stake: more than £700 million in TV rights alone if the season is not completed.

The main option currently being considered is to restart the season in June, playing at neutral grounds and behind closed doors. This would, in theory prevent fans from congregating at home matches even if they’re not allowed into the stadium, something that concerns the police and Ministers concerned about “safe distancing.”

Another idea is to hold a World Cup type of competition played at just one ground with the teams and all their associated staff confined to one location for the duration. Former Manchester United Captain Gary Neville has even come up with the rather bizarre idea of playing the rest of the season’s games, all 92 of them, abroad.

Some players, like Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero, have said the players are “scared” of restarting the season while in the throes of a global pandemic, and it is not just the players who would be affected.

“The majority of players are scared because they have family, they have children, they have babies, parents”, he told Spain’s El Chiringuito

Even if played behind closed doors, a Premier League match involves not only some 40 players from the squads of the two teams, but around 30 coaching and medical staff, up to 15 match and Premier League officials, and dozens of journalists, cameramen, and broadcasters.

The easy but expensive solution would be to simply declare this season null and void, and start next season when it is safe to do so. On balance, it also seems the fairest solution.

Liverpool are on the verge of sealing their first league title win in 30 years, requiring just two wins to be crowned champions this season. The idea of calling off the season and declaring it null and void might seem unfair to Jurgen Klopp’s team, but they haven’t won it yet and could, mathematically at least, still be caught.

If you handed Liverpool the title, what then is to be done about the six clubs fighting to avoid relegation to the Championship ?

And spare a thought too for Leeds United: Top of the Championship and on the verge of a return, at last, to top flight football.

It could be argued, as many have done, that this has little to do with football and everything to do with greed, a classic case of health versus wealth.

DCMS Secretary Oliver Dowden MP, told the House of Commons on April 27th that he has been in talks with The Premier League, which is keen to get football “up and running as soon as possible.”

“Any such move will have to be consistent with public health guidance,” he added.

So, how are our European neighbours resolving this problem ?

In France, the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 seasons are over, with PSG being handed the Ligue 1 title in a move that Liverpool will point to as a precedent.

In Spain, La Liga has been suspended indefinitely and will not resume until the Spanish government decides it is safe to do so. With Barcelona at the top, but just 2 points clear of Real Madrid, the idea of simply handing the title to Barca is inconceivable given the fraught politics between Catalonia and the rest of Spain.

The Italians have taken a similar position: All 20 Serie A teams have agreed to finish the season once the government says it is safe to do so

Several clubs, including Sampdoria, Torino and Brescia had opposed carrying on, but have now fallen into line.

The Bundesliga clubs want the rest of the season played out behind closed doors, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Prime Ministers of German’s 16 Federal States have once again delayed a decision .

The Dutch Football Association has decided to end the season with no champions, and no promotion or relegation .

UEFA, Europe’s football confederation, has given The European Leagues a deadline of May 25th to restart or abandon their domestic competitions and resolve which teams will play in UEFAs two competitions, The Champions’ League and The Europa League.

Any league cancelling its season would need to produce a list of teams that have qualified for those two European club competitions.

Back in England, the Brighton and Hove Albion Chief Executive has been  the first to come out against finishing the season at neutral venues. On the club’s website, he said he accepted the need for compromise, “but, at this crucial point in the season playing matches in neutral venues has, in our view, the potential to have a material effect on the integrity of the competition.”

To put it another way, the final games of the season would look like a different competition altogether if they were to be played behind closed doors at neutral venues.

Brighton were due to play at home for 5 of their remaining 9 matches in their fight to avoid relegation, and the loss of home advantage, even without fans, could prove the difference between relegation and Premier League survival.

Seven weeks ago, The Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, became the first person in The Premier League to test positive for Coronavirus. Now, Arsenal has resumed training at its Colney training ground, adhering to the strict social distancing guidelines imposed by the government. Five players at a time were allowed to train on the ten-pitch complex, meaning each man had plenty of space.

But how on earth can that sort of practice be translated into a competitive match against another team ? Is tackling to be banned ? What will happen to the usual Penalty Box melee when corners are taken ?

This is not only a financial and ethical issue. It is a practical one too. There is no good let alone ideal or fair solution. However, the risk to life, any life, in re-starting the season must mean it has got to be declared null and void.

Sorry Liverpool.

You may find it ridiculous to be fretting about football at a time like this, that we football fans need to get a sense of perspective.

There is a famous quote by Liverpool’s legendary manager Bill Shankly:

“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I can assure them it is much more serious than that.”

But it really isn’t, is it?

Glen Oglaza was a Sky News political correspondentÂ