But if that really was the case there would be no debate - it simply would not happen and everybody would stay home until either the coronavirus crawled back to where it came from or a successful vaccine was developed.

The mere fact that there is a debate proves that wealth speaks as loud as welfare.

Watching how countries have tackled the dilemma has been like watching a World Cup, of any persuasion. Each nation brings a different philosophy and style, mostly based on their inherent national characteristics. Some are ultra defensive with a gameplan of not conceding anything foolish in contrast to others who surge forward, even if that leads them vulnerable to a counter-attack.

The country which gave the world the 2002 film Collateral Damage appears to have adopted that very philosophy about a sporting return.

Inspired by a disinfectant-injected coach who has handled the pandemic about as well as the Titanic handled an iceberg, the US was staging social isolation restriction protests at the same time it was rocketing to the top of the COVID-19 casualty medal table.

When a customer shot and killed a store security guard who asked them to put on a facemask, the local authority chief was quoted as saying that sort of behaviour was "unacceptable".

America - land of the free and home of the hopelessly deluded.

However, it is across the European football competitions where the most fascinating clash of perspectives can be witnessed.

France has been all over le shoppe.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe decreed there will be no sport whatsoever until September, which appears to have been missed by organisers of that country's, and indeed the world's, largest annual sporting event who still have the Tour de France earmarked for August.

When it was declared that the Ligue Un season would not resume, the title was awarded to Paris St Germain who had been 12 points clear when the competition was suspended on March 13.

However, Liverpool, who sit 25 points clear in the English Premier League, remain in limbo having compiled the competition's best-ever record of 82 points from a possible 87 with nothing to show for it.

Led by a captain who not only saw the approaching iceberg but wanted to shake hands with it, Britain is performing way above expectations by sitting in second place on the medal table. However, eager not to be left behind in the global market, the nation is embarking on restriction-easing moves.

This week, construction workers were allowed back to work. Police officers and soldiers already were. Cowboys and bikers can decide for themselves. Coincidentally, YMCAs are also reopening.

The EPL's carefully branded "Project Restart" hit the buffers when three players were diagnosed at Brighton and Hove Albion - the club favoured by Mat Ryan, Aaron Mooy and yours truly. With uncanny accuracy, the Seagulls' chief executive Paul Barber had already said of the resumption: "It could cost lives, and we cannot afford that."

Scott Duxbury, chairman at fellow EPL strugglers Watford, added: "Is this fair? Does it have any semblance of sporting integrity? Of course not."

Germany and Italy hit similar hurdles.

Just a week before the Bundesliga was set to restart, the entire Dynamo Dresden team was placed in a two-week quarantine following two positive coronavirus tests among the players.

Meanwhile, shortly after the 20 Serie A clubs voted to try to complete their season, four players from Sampdoria, three from Fiorentina and one from Torino had tested positive.

In contrast to the French approach, the Dutch were a bit more laissez-faire.

The Netherlands' top league - the Eredivisie - was also cancelled but with no champions declared and no teams either relegated or promoted.

Meanwhile neutrality went out the chalet window in Switzerland where fans from five teams wrote an open letter, saying the proposed resumption "shows that the league is putting business interest before everything else, which means that they are catering for what the TV companies and the sponsors need".

Amid all this confusion, one European league did restart this weekend.

The tiny Atlantic archipelago of the Faroe Islands - which is a self-governing part of Denmark and has reported no known cases among its population of 50,000 - kicked off its Betri League season.

Taking up the mantle from the pioneering but somewhat blinkered Belarusian Premier League, the opening fixture played behind those pesky closed doors saw visitors B36 beat defending champions KI 2-0 in Klaksvik thanks to two late goals.

Meanwhile in Australia, football codes are also reverting to traditional traits. Like a canny ruck rover, the AFL constantly changes direction without really getting anywhere, the NRL beats its chest like it rules the world and the A-League and Super Rugby are so anonymous it's difficult to know if they have started or not.

And according to a report from True North Research, three-fifths of Australians are either against or undecided about a return to sporting competition in 2020.

What a safer and more sensible world it would be if such pivotal decisions were made by medical experts rather than sporting administrators.