The Coronavirus pandemic has led to the suspension of major European leagues including the English Premier League, French Ligue 1, Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A and the German Bundesliga.
The UEFA Champions League and Europa League which are in their knockout stages have been halted while EURO 2020 has been pushed back to the summer of 2021.
Most of the suspended leagues have been scheduled to resume in May but with the Covid-19 pandemic showing little signs of slowing down, Cannavaro does not believe that will be possible.
"In less than a month it is not known what is going to happen in the world," the 43-year-old told COPE.
"I think it will take a long time for this to end in Italy and Spain.
"It will be difficult for European football to return before the season ends."
Cannavaro currently manages in China, where he won the Super League with Guangzhou Evergrande last season.
The spread of the virus which originated in China has recently slowed down in the Asian country and the World Health Organisation (WHO) has now labelled Europe the ‘epicentre’ of the disease.
Cannavaro has tasked the rest of the world to take lessons from China on how to deal with the virus.
"The virus in Guangzhou is under control and life is beginning to go back to normal," Cannavaro added. "There are no more restrictions, only 14 days at home.
"In two days, I finish my quarantine. All of us who come back have to do it.
"Staying at home is essential because we do not give the virus the opportunity to infect more people.
"We have to learn from China, they have more experience in this situation."
