English rugby's Premiership will return to action on August 14 with the remaining nine matches of the season to be crammed into a six-week window.
After the completion of the regular season, play-offs matches will be played before the grand final is contested on October 24, less than a month before the 2020/21 season kicks off.
The Covid-19 pandemic has meant no club rugby in England since March 8 and, because of the amount of close contact involved, it is one of the last major sports to return.
The season will restart with Harlequins facing Sale, with three rounds of midweek fixtures added.
All games will be played without fans present and under strict hygiene protocols.
"It was absolutely critical for us, in terms of sporting integrity, that we did everything we could to play the full season without cancelling rounds or awarding points, but it does mean we have to play a small number of midweek games," Premiership CEO Darren Childs said on Friday.
Last year the Premiership refused to countenance a single round of midweek fixtures to give the British and Irish Lions an extra week of preparation for their tour of South Africa, but now seem to have found a way to deal with their player welfare concerns.
"The clubs have been very positive and there have been a lot of conversations about how will deal with the demands," Childs said.
There are no hard and fast rules in place in terms of number of games or playing minutes allowed, but officials said they were confident that ongoing dialogue would ensure player welfare was not compromised.
"It's a proactive discussion but we recognise that we need to come up a solution that involves both the (players' union) RPA and RFU," said Premiership rugby director Phil Winstanly.
How the new fixtures and dates for next season will impact on the international game remains to be seen.
The world's leading unions are still trying to thrash out a new, unified calendar, with a preferred international window in October and November.
Even without such a fundamental change, there are four postponed Six Nations matches to be squeezed in - including England's trip to Italy - with four more Twickenham internationals scheduled for November and the knockout stages of the club European Cup still to be played.
The 2020-21 season will finish on June 26, five days before the Lions are scheduled to play their first tour game in Cape Town.
Australian Associated Press
