Finishing the season in a 40-day window was one of the scenarios discussed at a Premier League meeting.

Top-flight clubs remain committed to playing all 92 remaining fixtures this season but did not discuss a deadline by which action must resume. Clubs were expected to debate a 30 June deadline to end the season but instead discussed "possible scheduling models".

Meanwhile, the Women's Super League (WSL) season could be completed over a six-week period, with the 45 games left played behind closed doors at one central base. St George's Park, the Football Association's national football centre, is understood to be under consideration to host teams and matches.

No WSL fixtures have been played since February 23, with the suspension of elite football across England coming after a two-week international break for the SheBelieves Cup and the Women's League Cup final.

With the Premier League (PL) being suspended since March 13, because of coronavirus, they say that it "remains our objective" to complete matches but currently "all dates are tentative".

It is understood some clubs expected to discuss the proposed 30 June deadline at Friday's meeting but it was decided this was not the right time to do so.

A Premier League spokesperson said: "In common with other businesses and industries" clubs were "working through complex planning scenarios.

It remains our objective to complete the 2019-20 season, but at this stage all dates are tentative while the impact of Covid-19 develops."

Sixteen of the 20 Premier League teams have nine games to play, with four having 10 left.
The Premier League earlier said play will only resume when "it is safe and appropriate to do so". 

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden spoke to PL bosses and signalled the government was content for them to start contingency planning.

In a section on player welfare at the meeting, it was decided tests for coronavirus would have to be widely available to the public before the widespread testing of players.

When and how football resumes has been widely debated across the sport as clubs face up to financial difficulties and the logistical issues caused by a late finish to the season.

If the season is extended beyond that date there is a possibility clubs will lose players before fixtures are concluded.

Lower down the football pyramid in England, the EFL has sent a letter to clubs recommending they return to training on May 16 at the earliest. The EFL has not discussed a league restart date with the government but told clubs: "Our planning needs to be agile enough to allow us to be as prepared as possible for a start at relatively short notice."

The remaining options for this campaign were outlined to WSL clubs during a conference call, including the possibility of having to void the season with the n FA spokesperson saying: "We are in the early stages of assessing what options are available for when it is safe and appropriate to resume the FA WSL and FA WC seasons.
"This includes the potential use of neutral venues.

The FA is understood to want the top women's divisions next steps to be in line with any decisions made by the Premier League, as well as following guidance from European football's governing body UEFA, with the top two WSL teams set to qualify for the Women's Champions League.

That means there could yet be some flexibility around the proposed restart start in June, but nevertheless the WSL is understood to have two main options remaining as the most likely.

Tiers three to seven of the women's pyramid in England were formally declared null and void after that decision was ratified on 9 April and the top two tiers could follow suit depending on the health advice given.

Ex-England, Crystal Palace, Wolves, Nottingham Forest, Crewe, Barnsley and Rochdale footballer, blood cancer survivor and Cure Leukaemia Patron Geoff Thomas has reluctantly announced the cancellation of his GT15 Tour de France challenge with view to completing it in 2021.

Geoff and 18 other amateur cyclists had been training to cycle the full Tour de France route, a day ahead of the professionals, this summer with the aim of raising £1,000,000 for national blood cancer charity Cure Leukaemia.

Their fundraising would directly fund the UK Trials Acceleration Programme (TAP) network which comprises 12 blood cancer centres across the UK. The specialist research nurses funded within these centres allow pioneering clinical trials for blood cancer to run benefitting a catchment area of 20 million people and many of these nurses have now been redeployed to help run clinical trials to fight the COVID-19 virus.

Unfortunately, due to the unprecedented global impact from the COVID-19 crisis, Geoff and the charity have made the decision to cancel the event with a view to completing the challenge next year, a decision that the whole GT15 team are in complete agreement with, despite the main Tour de France announcing its postponement to August 29th this summer.

Thomas, 55, who was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia in 2003, said: “I am devastated to cancel this event which was due to be my final Tour de France challenge. Whilst the official organisers have announced the new date there is still too much uncertainty and risk from a logistical and operational perspective for our event to take place. However, I am so grateful that the majority of the team have already assured me that they will complete the event in 2021.

“Our aim was to raise £1,000,000 for Cure Leukaemia to fund our amazing research nurses across the UK, many of whom have been redeployed to directly fight COVID-19 on the front-line and I am so proud that, as a team, we have already raised over £350,000. I want to thank everyone involved in GT15 for the hours of training and fundraising they have already dedicated to this challenge and we will still do what we can to get as close to our £1m target this year.

“I also want to thank our fantastic sponsors for their support especially our official headline sponsor Farr Vintners who have committed to the event in 2021. We have made this decision with a heavy heart, but we are now even more determined to go well beyond the £1m target when this event can take place in 2021.”

Cure Leukaemia Chief Executive James McLaughlin said: “After careful consideration and communication with Geoff and the team and despite today’s announcement, we decided that it is the sensible and right decision to cancel this year’s event. I am immensely grateful to all of our major sponsors and event director Andy Cook for their understanding of the situation and their continued support.

“In cancelling the event, this inevitably creates a potential significant shortfall and we will be doing everything we can for the remainder of the year to ensure we can provide vital funds for the amazing research nurses we fund at 12 blood cancer centres across the UK so they can continue to help save lives.

“I want to thank all of the GT15 riders for their phenomenal dedication to training and fundraising for Cure Leukaemia and their understanding of this decision.”

The English Football Association (FA) has launched an advisory group to study why anterior cruciate ligament injuries are more prevalent in women’s football.

Women players are 8-times more likely to injure their ACLs than men.

During this season, 12 players in the top two divisions in the women’s game – the WSL (Women’s Super League) and the Woman’s Championship – have suffered with the serious knee injury during this season with the FA saying that the results will be “carefully assessed”.

An FA spokesperson said that the results from the Female Athletics Scientific Advisory Group will be carefully assessed over time.

The spokesperson said: “The audit, already in its early stages, will be carried out by a group of experts from institutes involved in producing results in women’s athletics and football.

“Then, we will be able to assess any particular injuries – including ACLs.

“We will then be able to analyse rates of injuries in comparison to previous audits in men’s and women’s football, as well as in other sports.

A programme of ACL strategies - set up by the FA - is already in place, where experts deliver contents on the prevention, and rehabilitation from, to club medics.

Manchester City defender, Aoife Mannion, is one of the WSL players to suffer the potential career-ending knee injury and, after undergoing surgery, will be on the side-lines for a lengthy period.

Fellow WSL club, Bristol City, is undergoing research into the possible relation of the menstrual-cycle in ACL injury prevention.

Former England fast bowler Devon Malcolm says it is “really difficult” to come to terms with the death of his father who died after contacting coronavirus, after not being able to visit him in hospital.

Malcolm’s father, Albert, who lived in a care home, died at the age of 75 on April 4.

He had been admitted to hospital with a bladder infection on March 29 and had only tested positive for the covid-19 virus just two days before he passed.

Malcolm, who took 128 wickets in 40 Tests between 1989 and 1997, said: “It’s so sad as we lost him in only a few days.

“It’s only when we got the death certificate when reality really sinks in. And when it does, it feels like you are having a dream and you will be out of it soon.

“But it’s going to be very difficult”.

He added: “We have a date for the funeral but the process is so difficult and so different now to going through bereavement in the past.

“There are only 5 people and the vicar who are allied at the graves. We are hoping in the future, when we get back to some sort of normality, we can possibly a proper service, celebrating his lie with all his grandchildren and his friends”.

Devon played all of his County Cricket in the East Midlands - at Derbyshire, Leicestershir and Northamptonshire – between 1084 and 2003.

Jan Frodeno, Olympic gold medallist and three-time winner of the Ironman Triathlon World Championship, has shown that COVID-19 cannot stop all sport if you are creative and determined enough.

Laureus Ambassador Frodeno today found an imaginative way to complete a sporting challenge amid COVID-19 restrictions and raise OVER €200,000 for healthcare institutions in Girona and Laureus Sport for Good.

Now in lockdown in Girona, he completed the Ironman distance ‘AT HOME’ – in a remarkable time of 8hrs 33mins and 39secs.

That’s 3.8 km in his counter-current swimming pool, 180 km cycling on his roller trainer, and running a 42.2km marathon on his treadmill.

Jan said: “That was certainly different and great fun. I’m really pleased we were able to make this happen, and to raise money for such good and important causes. We’ve been subject to lockdown for almost 4 weeks now and there is strict monitoring of compliance with these rules, and rightly so.

“The situation here is really dire. That’s why I’ve been training at home. However, when I see what the people here in the hospitals are doing for us, this small sacrifice is one I wholeheartedly make.”

Frodeno was planning to compete at the Challenge Roth in Bavaria, but it was called off because of the pandemic.

He said: “In the beginning it was actually just a crazy idea, with me thinking: ‘If I can’t do my race, I’ll just do it at home.’ Then we thought more about how and why we should actually do this. I just wanted to attract attention in order to raise money.

“A portion of the donations will help Laureus Sport for Good in building a project to help young people in my home city, Girona. My sponsor Mercedes-Benz is a Global Partner of this charity and I have been involved in it as an Ambassador for many years.

“Laureus is a wonderful organisation that supports around 200 programmes around the world which use the power of sport to help young people. A lot of this work has had to stop, or has to take place remotely now because of COVID-19. For these young people, many of them disadvantaged, this is a double disaster.

“The rest of the donations will be given to local healthcare institutions here in Girona. I have so much respect and regard for the doctors, nurses and helpers here who are risking themselves to beat this terrible thing.”

Fans around the world tuned in to a live stream of Jan’s #TriatHome Challenge. Throughout the day, he was joined on the stream by a number of the world’s greatest sporting legends, including Laureus Academy members Boris Becker, Fabian Cancellara, Mike Horn and Chris Hoy.

For anyone wishing to support Jan’s initiative, the donation page is www.viprize.org/frodeno.
                           

Following Champions-elect, Liverpool, fellow Premier League giants, Tottenham Hotspur have also reverse the decision to use the government furlough scheme for their non-playing staff during the coronavirus pandemic.

The U-turn comes on the back of overwhelming opposition that the club was receiving from fans, players – present and former – football fans in general and an extensive number people at large.

With a back-lash that proved hugely unbearable by the decision-makers at the North London club, they were forced to put out a statement which said that all non-playing staff will receive “100% of their pay for April and May”.

It comes two weeks after the club announced that 550 of their employees were due to have to take a 20% pay cut ‘to protect jobs’.

This latest statement included the fact that only board members – who include chairman, Daniel Levy, who earned an estimated £7m last year - at the club will be taking a cut in their salary.

He (Levy) said: “We regret any concern caused during an anxious time and hope that the work our supporters will see us doing in the coming weeks, as our stadium takes on a whole new purpose, will make them proud of their club.

The club’s £850m 62,000-seeter Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – which is one of the most advanced in the world - has been offered to the NHS in the fight against coronavirus, with the club using it to support vulnerable individuals affected by the outburst.

Newcastle United, Norwich City and Bournemouth are amongst Premier League clubs who will furlough some of their non-playing staff, fellow Premier League club, Southampton, have become the first in the division to announce an agreement with their players over wage deferrals during the coronavirus crisis.