England Women's football squad have donated to an initiative set up by Premier League players to the NHS and other frontline staff during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Lionesses made the announcement to donate to the fund - #PlayersTogether - on their personal social media s, led off by captain Steph Houghton.

The statement said: "After discussions with a number of Premier League players, we are delighted to confirm that the whole of the Lionesses squad will make a collective donation to the #PlayersTogether fund."

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Finally from the former FA chairman David Bernstein: "Everyone is struggling for survival. Instead of bringing people together, bringing the great game together, it is forcing it further apart, so I’ll repeat, I don’t think football is going to handle this and settle this without some outside help.

"The trouble is football does not like outside interference, but frankly I think that we’re past that point now. This is a unique time that has been forced on us by dreadful circumstances, but it’s not just football that is going to have to reset but other elements of society that are going to have to as well.

"This is a turning point and we’ll have to see whether football can take this on, or whether the government can, in fact, because I don’t think that football will."

Speaking to BBC's Olly Foster, former FA chairman David Bernstein added: "The Premier League itself is under some stress now for the first time. The loss of gate money, season ticket money, television money, and so on; it could amount to £1bn of missing cash.

"I have advocated a levy on the Premier League to take away a certain slice of its income, not to be distributed by the Premier League but to go to the Football Association, who could distribute this and do it all independently. At this moment in time that would be very difficult, but hopefully that could happen going forward.

"I think that a regulator with statutory powers, appointed by the government, needs to come in and deal with it because I do not think football is capable of doing it itself.

"It’s had many opportunities, we’ve had many reports, we’ve had select committee reports, we’ve had government departmental reports and basically they’ve got us hardly anywhere. So I’ve got very little confidence in football itself. It needs something to come in, in football's own interest, to bring some order to this chaotic situation."

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BBC reporter Olly Foster has spoken to David Bernstein, who was FA chairman from 2011 to 2013, about how he sees football as the sport tries to come to with the coronavirus crisis.

"This is a situation that has been building up for years, if not decades, and although the virus has brought things to a head, there’s been a problem within football that I’ve been trying to address for 10 years," said Bernstein.

"It really revolves around the fantastic success of the Premier League and the way that has stretched the league away from the rest of the game. First of all, there is a governance problem – the FA has difficulty as a governing body in dealing with the Premier League. It is so powerful, its income is around 15 times that of the FA and the Premier League knows how to use its power in all sorts of ways.

"That leads to an issue of finance. The Championship and the lower leagues were in a precarious state and are now in a catastrophic state. We’re heading into a situation where there is no coherence, football is not coming together. In fact, it is sort of dividing with all these issues.

"I believe the governing bodies, the FA, even more so the PFA, are not doing a great job. The grievances in this situation is like it is ‘survival of the fittest’, but it is going to produce huge problems down the road if we don’t get our acts together."

England player Lucy Bronze, who was recently named BBC Women's Footballer of the Year 2020, has been speaking about how much she is missing playing the game she says "is her life".

"My life is football so life without football is pretty strange but I’m getting by," Bronze told BBC Radio 5 live.

"Obviously there’s a lot worse situations I could be in. I’ve got a nice little garden, I’m fit and healthy at the moment so I can’t complain too much.”

Bronze, who is based in with Lyon, was able to return to the UK for the lockdown period.

"I was in and the lockdown came earlier then, the club had let a bunch of the foreign players fly home for the weekend anyway," Bronze said.

"I stayed in England and a couple of days later the lockdown happened in England so I am grateful. I’d rather be here than . As much as I love Lyon, I would have been in my little apartment on my own for a couple of weeks now, but who knows how long it would’ve been.”

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Former England fast bowler Devon Malcolm says it is "really difficult" to come to with the death of his father from coronavirus, after not being able to visit him in hospital.

Malcolm's father Albert, who lived in a care home, died aged 75 on 4 April.

He had been itted to hospital with a bladder infection on 29 March and had only tested positive for coronavirus two days before his death.

"It's so sad, we lost him in a few days," Malcolm told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"It's so difficult when a loved one is itted to hospital and you are told you can't visit, you can't be there for them."

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Burundi is the last African country to suspend its league on Monday, but made no reference to the stoppage being linked to the threat of coronavirus.

Burundi Football Federation president Reverien Ndikuriyo said the suspension was to allow the federation to re-assess venues for matches as some facilities might have to be used for election rallies.

A general election will be held in Burundi on May 20 to elect both the president and the National Assembly.

The BFF said it was satisfied that the league and cup competitions were well on target for a May 30 completion date.

Ndikuriyo made no reference to the health risks of continuing to proceed with league and cup matches.

Fans at matches in Burundi have had their temperatures taken and hands sprayed with disinfectant on entrance to match venues in recent weeks.

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The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has postponed all football matches scheduled for May and June until further notice due to the coronavirus pandemic.

This includes the Asian Champions League, Asia's elite club competition.

World football governing body Fifa and the AFC had previously agreed to postpone the Asian World Cup qualifying matches in March and June.

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The Toulon Tournament, one of football's biggest international under-ageevents, has been postponed, organisers have announced.

England were due to take part in the 48th edition of the event, scheduled forJune 1-14 in Bouches-du-Rhone, .

In a statement, event organisers said: "We will be working with all ourstakeholders and will be closely following the decisions taken by the variousfootball entities.. to reschedule the tournament at another time in 2020."

England won the tournament in 2017.

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The English Football League and Professional Footballers' Association have proposed that clubs could defer up to 25% of players' wages in April because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The agreement applies to Leagues One and Two, with Championship clubs expected to make individual decisions.

Under the limits of the deferral, players earning less than £2,500 a month would still be paid in full.

Any reduction in wages must not take a player below earning that amount.

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England and Lyon full-back Lucy Bronze has been talking to BBC Radio 5 Live about how she is coping during lockdown.

In her downtime, Bronze has been playing video games.

Bronze: "Yeah the England team set up a little tournament, a bit of a mix of the boys and the girls together but I literally dusted it off, there was dust on it so I’m having to play against one of the boys this week who is apparently one of the best so I’m having to get a little bit more practice in these last couple of days just so I can give him a bit of a challenge.”

Which boy?

Bronze: Ryan Sessegnon

Is he a baller?

Bronze: “Apparently he’s a baller, he’s a baller on the pitch I know that, I’ve seen him play but on FiFA as well apparently he’s one of the best so I don’t think it’s going to be a great game for me I don’t think but it’s just a bit of fun and keeps us entertained."

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Geraint Thomas hopes the Tour de can be re-arranged for later in the summer with the event set to be postponed.

The French government has extended a ban on mass gatherings because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Cycling's biggest race, which Thomas won in 2018, is due to run from 27 June to 19 July.

“It’s the pinnacle of cycling,” said Thomas. “It represents the sport and certainly it’s the thing that’s keeping me going at the minute.

“You’ve just got that target down the line. It’s hard when you don’t know when it’s going to be to try and stay in that positive frame of mind.

“In my head I’m just thinking the Tour is definitely going to happen. I don’t know when but hopefully it does. It would be great for everyone.”

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Image source, Getty Images

Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths has encouraged anyone struggling with their mental health during lockdown to seek help and talk to someone.

He struggled with his own mental health after missing part of last season with personal issues.

Griffiths told the Celtic View Podcast: "If people keep stuff bottled in a lot - and that was the case with me, I kept things bottled up - it will tip you over the edge.

"But the more you speak out, there are loads of people who will be willing to listen and give you advice.

"If you can speak out, it might end up helping you, and you can start enjoying life again."

Dame Katherine Grainger, chair of UK Sport, says she is looking for "some reassurance from the government" that athletes will be covered for the gap in funding caused by the Olympics moving to 2021.

Speaking to the Today Programme's Rob Bonnet, she said: "Now we have a sort of five year rather than a four year run up to the Games.

"So there's now a natural gap, funding that would run out in the end of March, we now obviously have the four or five months leading up to July, August and September.

"The government's been incredibly ive. I think they recognise that if and when we get some return to normality, and the world can come together and celebrate through sport and many other ways, and actually, it's very important that our teams are well prepared and fit and healthy and ready to depart next summer.

"And I think sport will have a role then. So I think, you know, short term, it's to try and get that reassurance at least, we've got the next year 15 months covered, and then we have to look again beyond that."

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Formula E have announced they have partnered with Unicef to help " the global coronavirus appeal, protecting vulnerable children and families most at risk during the pandemic".

The all-electric racing series' sixth season was postponed shortly after February's Marrakesh E-Prix, which was won by DS Techeetah driver Antonio Felix da Costa - who leads the title race.

Bosses at Formula E say funds will be directed towards remote learning programmes and supplying essential protective equipment for frontline hospital staff around the world.

The sport recently announced it would delay the introduction of its new car, which was due to run from the 2020/2021 season.

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Have a go at this.

Double Olympic champion Jade Jones and her flatmate, Olympic bronze medallist Bianca Walkden, have put together a short taekwondo workout perfect for trying at home.

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The NFL draft takes place next week - but not in Las Vegas as had been planned. Due to lockdown restrictions, it will now be a virtual draft originating from the ESPN studios in Bristol, Connecticut.

The draft hosts and a limited number of commentators will be in-studio while many analysts and reporters will contribute remotely from home studios.

The event sees NFL teams pick players for next season from the best of last season's college players, with 58 of the draft prospects having agreed to take part virtually.

When each pick is made, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will introduce them from his home. The first round is due to begin at 01:00 BST on Friday, 24 April.