Burley will be happy to have more preparation time for the Oslo match
The Scottish Premier League has agreed to postpone the start of next season by a week to 15 August.
The Scottish FA had requested the delay in order to increase preparation time for Scotland's World Cup qualifier in Norway on 12 August.
The SPL wanted the SFA to move the Scottish Cup semi-finals to a midweek date to accommodate the fixture switch.
However, the SFA say they will only do so should Scottish teams fail to make good progress in Europe.
If that does not happen, it appears they would expect the SPL to squeeze in an additional round of midweek league fixtures sometime in April next year.
Scotland manager George Burley had initially asked for the SPL campaign to start a week earlier, leaving the weekend of 8 and 9 August free.
But the SPL were reluctant to make a 'false start' to the next campaign and pointed to the number of European ties Scottish clubs could be involved in at that time of the season.
"Facing a late start and an early end to the season because of the World Cup, we asked the SFA for a firm commitment to move the Scottish Cup semi-finals to a midweek," read a statement from the SPL.
"This would have provided certainty in giving a clear weekend to play a round of league matches and helped our teams with European commitments.
"The SFA told us that they would meet our request. But, subsequently, this commitment was withdrawn.
"The SPL board were deeply disappointed at the SFA's unwillingness to provide the commitment sought.
"But, given the board's wish to meet the Scotland team manager's request for a free weekend on August 8, they decided the season would now start on August 15.
"Helping the national side was at the forefront of our efforts over the past few days.
"We worked to find a way of accommodating George's request while managing the issues this creates for us and our clubs.
"We are disappointed the SFA were not more willing to work with us in assisting the national side."
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound programme, SPL secretary Iain Blair explained why bringing the season forward to August 1 was not considered as an option.
"Having a game and then having a fortnight until your next game right at the very beginning of the campaign is not desirable," said Blair.
"The other issue is that we will have hopefully three, possibly four teams with European qualifying matches either side of that weekend for both the Europa League and for the Champions League.
"At that time of the season, you could be anywhere, there could be all sorts of trips involved.
"So, given that there's a significant chance of a significant number of the clubs being involved in that, we didn't want to add to the burden by trying to stick a league match in the middle of it."
Burley was relieved to hear of the SPL's decision, saying: "I'm absolutely delighted that an agreement has been reached.
"This gives me time to prepare the boys properly for the crucial match in Norway and means that the first game of the season - which is always played at 100 miles an hour - will not now take place a few days before we head to Oslo.
"My thanks to the SPL for finding a solution to this, which I know has not been easy.
"This gives us a real chance to take the country to the World Cup."
An SFA spokesman added: "The Scottish FA is very happy with the outcome of the negotiations and are satisfied that every step was taken by everyone involved to find a workable solution to a difficult problem.
"Should it be required, we are prepared to move the Scottish Cup semi-final dates to a midweek.
"This is not a decision that we would take lightly. But, as is only right and proper, we feel that the interests of the national team should be paramount.
"We have a real chance to make it to South Africa - we are delighted that everyone is working towards that goal."
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