Coronavirus: Premier League clubs should face ‘windfall tax’ April 2, 2020 Premier League clubs that furlough non-playing staff during the Covid-19 crisis should be slapped with a windfall tax, according to the chair of Westminster’s sports select committee. Tottenham, Newcastle and Norwich City have taken steps to furlough non-playing staff so they can access the government’s wage subsidy scheme, while still paying players their full contracts. [...]
Formula One’s 2020 outlook downgraded to negative by Moody’s April 2, 2020 The outlook for Formula One has been downgraded by Moody’s to negative in light of the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic to its 2020 race calendar. Formula One has cancelled its Australia and Monaco grand prix races and postponed six races scheduled between March and early June 2020. Moody’s said the disruption would lead [...]
Coronavirus: Reports County Championship Cricket season could be cancelled April 2, 2020 Cricket’s entire County Championship season could be cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak, reports emerged last night. The Daily Telegraph reports that with the start of the already congested season delayed until at least the end of May, priority is being given to international and domestic T-20 cricket as opposed to the longer form of [...]
Wimbledon tennis championships cancelled over coronavirus April 1, 2020 The Wimbledon tennis championships were cancelled for the first time since World War Two today as the coronavirus pandemic wiped another blue-riband sports event off the calendar. While the decision had looked inevitable for some time, since the virtual shutdown of world sport and the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, Wimbledon had been one of [...]
Football clubs fear EFL sanctions unless they sack staff or make pay cuts March 31, 2020 Football clubs fear they will be punished for “doing the right thing” if they don’t make redundancies or ask staff to take pay cuts while all sport is suspended. The coronavirus pandemic has slashed teams’ income, especially at those below the Premier League, who are more reliant on revenue from fans attending matches. That has [...]
Coronavirus: Clubs facing ‘an avalanche’ of claims from players over forced pay cuts March 30, 2020 Everyone has had to make sacrifices since the coronavirus pandemic took over daily life, and sportspeople are no exception. With all sport in the UK currently postponed, players have set about a new existence, training as best as they can at home until a resumption is possible. But with no end to the lockdown in [...]
Culture in quarantine: Which UK venues have gone virtual during the coronavirus crisis? March 29, 2020 Since Prime Minister Boris Johnson last week ramped up social distancing measures to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, thousands of cultural institutions across the UK have been forced to close their doors. However, as millions of Brits hunker down at home, a range of arts and culture venues have launched new digital initiatives to ensure exhibitions [...]
How sports teams are using technology to recreate group training sessions with players in isolation March 29, 2020 They may be miles apart and isolated in their homes, but footballers, rugby players and cricketers across the country are finding new ways to continue training together. Sportspeople left in limbo while their seasons are delayed indefinitely by the coronavirus pandemic are still staying in shape, as they have readily documented on social media. The [...]
Hunters series review: Al Pacino hunting Nazis makes for gripping lockdown fodder March 27, 2020 If you’re looking for a nice, cuddly box set that you can watch half-comatose under your anxiety blanket as the world unravels around you, Amazon Prime’s latest big-budget series Hunters probably isn’t for you. It’s about Nazis, for one thing, and someone gets shot in the head approximately once every three minutes. Set predominantly in [...]
Animal Crossing: New Horizons review: Sedate island escapism never felt so necessary March 27, 2020 Having had the enviable job of writing about video games for most of my adult life, there’s still one question I struggle to articulate a satisfying answer to: what do you actually do in Animal Crossing? Nintendo’s sedate island life simulator doesn’t have a real objective. You have a mortgage to pay down but your [...]