Back pages: Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho is warned over outdoor training session

Jose faces a police warning

Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho is on the back page of The Times after he received a warning from the club for “flouting the government’s lockdown guidelines”.

The paper describes how the Special One was observed standing with midfielder Tanguy Ndombele and two others on some parkland in Barnet, north London.

According to the Times “Mourinho appeared to be holding a stopwatch and timing a player running”.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Other papers identify the mystery duo as Davinson Sanchez and Ryan Sessegnon and it’s also alleged that Serge Aurier was stretching his legs as part of the informal training session.

The Daily Mirror headlines its report of the incident, “The Stupid One”, and quotes a spokesperson for Tottenham saying: “All of our players have been reminded to respect social distancing when exercising outdoors. We shall continue to reinforce this message.”

The Sun claims that Mourinho could face a police warning from the police for flouting the lockdown rules, and adds that the photos of the illicit training session were “posted on an Arsenal fan account”.

Spurs fans urge club to reverse furlough decision

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For analysis of the biggest sport stories - and a concise, balanced take on the week’s news - try The Week magazine. Start your trial today –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Racing is a big faller

Horse racing is the latest sport to see its prestige events cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic with the Jockey Club announcing that the first four Classic races of the year - the 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas, the Derby and the Oaks - have been postponed indefinitely.

According to The Guardian Royal Ascot will go ahead in June but behind closed doors, although, in the words of Ascot Racecourse’s chief executive Guy Henderson, the final decision is “dependent on government and public health policy and the approval of the BHA [British Horseracing Authority]”.

But the Guardian isn’t alone among the papers in asking “what’s the point of Royal Ascot without the fancy dresses, absurd hats and the champagne-guzzling revellers?”.

Solskjaer defends players

The Daily Star carries the remarks of Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in which he says footballers have been unfairly singled out for criticism over their resistance to a wage cut.

Solskjaer made the comments in an interview with Sky Sports as negotiations about a 30% slash to their salary appear to have hit an impasse.

“For me football is an easy target sometimes,” Solskjaer said. “It’s unfair to call on any individual or footballers as a group because I already know players do a great amount of work in the community, and players are doing a lot to help this situation.”

Asked if there had been any progress in talks between the clubs, Premier League and the Professional Footballers Association (PFA), Solskjaer said: “Discussions are taking place between players and clubs, what kind of contribution they’ll make. It’s not easy for anyone.”

Football faces financial crash: Premier League may lose as much as £1bn

Today’s sport headlines

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For analysis of the biggest sport stories - and a concise, balanced take on the week’s news - try The Week magazine. Start your trial today –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––