THE PREMIER LEAGUE has been suspended indefinitely after a meeting between all 20 clubs – but when it comes back matches at 3pm will be allowed to be broadcast live.
In a marathon four-hour meeting there was also a recommendation for all players to take a 30 percent wage cut.
Yet, Troy Deeney, Kevin De Bruyne and Mark Noble have argued the pay reduction is only benefiting the club owners.
Meanwhile, Amir Khan has revealed his conspiracy theory around the killer bug includes the building of 5G towers.
Follow all the latest news and updates as the sporting world deals with the threat of coronavirus…
BURN OR BUST
A worrying sign for Premier League clubs…
Burnley chairman Mike Garlick has warned they will go BUST in August if the football lockdown has not ended by then.
The Clarets boss revealed they stand to lose £50MILLION if the current season is cancelled — and warned other Premier League clubs face losses of as much as £100M.
Garlick said the situation is so dire that his club — one of the best run in the top flight — will be potless later this summer unless the deadly Covid-19 pandemic has eased by then.
He said: “The fact of the matter is, if we don’t finish the season and there isn’t a clear start date for next season, we, as a club, will run out of money by August. That is a fact.
“I can’t speak for other clubs, I don’t know their financial positions.All I can speak for us our club and our position.
“That’s why we’re very determined that when of course it is safe to do so, we really want to finish this season.”
BREAKING
Man City have become the first Premier League club to confirm they will definitely not put non playing staff on furlough.
The current champions sent an email round hundreds of employees this weekend to ease concerns about the effect the coronavirus could have at the Etihad.
In it, chief operating officer Omar Berrada told them the club are committed to protecting jobs without using the government’s help.
The decision – which was given the thumbs up by chairman Khaldon al Mubarak – was taken the last week and relieved workers have now been informed.
Their announcement comes on the back of two of their rivals announcing controversial plans to put many of their staff on furlough.
On Saturday, rivals Liverpool joined Tottenham in making the controversial decision to temporarily lay off a high number of staff – believed to be around 60%.
POT LUCK
The World Snooker Championship is set to replace the Tokyo Olympics in the TV schedules this summer.
SunSport can reveal the Crucible event has been moved from April to July 25 – the same slot vacated by the rescheduled Olympics on the BBC.
The Sheffield tournament could also take place behind closed doors for the first time if government restrictions are still in place during the coronavirus crisis.
World Snooker Tour chairman Barry Hearn said: “We have secured the Crucible for the same dates as the Olympics were going to be.
“And we have applied to the BBC to make that move so it will be played out at the end of July and start of August.”
SUPER MARIO
Mario Isola, the boss of Pirelli F1's division, will put his life on the line tonight as he takes up his role as volunteer paramedic in the European epicentre of the coronavirus.
While Isola should have been in Vietnam for the country's inaugural F1 race, the postponed series means he can bravely assist in helping critically ill patients near his home in Milan.
Despite being begged not to volunteer by his girlfriend Isabella, the 50-year-old says it's his duty to help out in the coronavirus crisis in the region that has seen a staggering death toll.
The disease has killed over 7,500 people in Lombardy, and unsurprisingly, he is nervous about his first shift since coming out of self-imposed isolation after flying back from Melbourne.
Heroic stuff – READ THE INTERVIEW HERE
ROO RAGE
Wayne Rooney has branded the government and Premier League a “disgrace” over their handling of the footballer pay cut row.
And the Manchester United legend, who now plays for Derby in the Championship, says footballers have been made “scapegoats” at a time of national emergency in the coronavirus crisis.
He wrote in his Sunday Times column: “If the government approached me to help support nurses financially or buy ventilators I’d be proud to do so – as long as I knew where the money was going.
“I’m in a position where I could give something up. Not every footballer is in the same position.
“Yet suddenly the whole profession has been put on the spot with a demand for 30 per cent pay cuts across the board. Why are footballers suddenly the scapegoats?
“How the past few days have played out is a disgrace.
“First the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, in his daily update on coronavirus, said that Premier League players should take a pay cut.
“He was supposed to be giving the nation the latest on the biggest crisis we’ve faced in our lifetimes.
“Why was the pay of footballers even in his head? Was he desperate to divert attention from his government’s handling of this pandemic?”
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