Premier League players could be 25% more susceptible to injury when football resumes because of the intense schedule, research shows.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters is "as confident as we can be" of restarting in June.

Time will need to be found for the FA Cup before the 2020-21 season starts in "late August, early September".

Based on Project Restart's provisional return date of 20 June, Manchester City players could face 13 games in 49 days.

City have played one fewer match than the majority of Premier League clubs but these figures do not take into account the completion of the Champions League, which has the potential of adding another four games should they reach the final - if the tournament can be concluded.

Research conducted by artificial intelligence platform Zone7, which specialises in injury risk forecasting and works with 35 professional football teams worldwide, shows that playing eight matches in a 30-day period increases the incidence of injury by 25% when compared with playing four to five matches in the same timeframe.

Eight matches in 30 days may seem a regular occurrence but only 4% of players across a season are subjected to such a run of games.

It is not just the congestion of the fixture list that poses a concern, but the time provided for teams to transition from individual, socially distanced training to higher-intensity group training, something Watford manager Nigel Pearson and Newcastle boss Steve Bruce are concerned about.

The Bundesliga was only officially given the go-ahead to recommence on 7 May, just nine days before the first fixture kicked off. Eight players picked up injuries in the six games on 16 May - a rate well above normal.

A standard pre-season schedule runs for a period of 30 days, or even longer.

But when examining data from 11 top-division professional teams from the past two seasons, Zone7 found that when the preparation period shortens, due to an international tournament or entry into European competition, 75% of teams had higher prevalence of injury in the first half of the season when compared to those that had more planning time.
Flaminia Ronca, an exercise physiologist at the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health, part of University College London, is working with Premier League players to assess what health risks they may face when returning after the suspension.

She said: "It's possible that the players may have lost up to 15% of their fitness, which they now need to regain in a very short time.

"And I think this is really where the science of training becomes so crucial. Coaches will have to be very creative and combine the most effective methods of training with the safest injury prevention methods, all condensed into this very tight timeframe."

Over five million hours of performance from various sports, including those 35 professional football teams, has been gathered by Zone7 and this data is used to assess the probability of a player sustaining an injury in the following seven days.

Millions of data points are taken from wearable technology that tracks workloads from training and matches, player injury history, fitness tests, and even sleep patterns to generate daily risk forecasts.

Historical data is used to detect data patterns that precede injuries and alert when those data patterns emerge and help prevent the injury before it occurs.

From here, teams are given risk forecasts and not only can they identify the type of injury a particular player could sustain if they are deemed "high risk", modifications can be made to that player's bespoke training schedule to avoid the injury occurring. Zone7 states it can provide accurate and timely alerts for 75% of injuries.

Birmingham-based Mondelēz International’s employees joined forces to raise money for two charities, by cycling, running and walking an incredible 10,000 miles throughout April.
 
The virtual challenge was devised after the team’s annual charity cycle ride was postponed due to the impact of COVID-19, with the group working towards its 2020 target of raising £10,000 for charity. Each person was able to complete their miles however they could, while adhering to government guidance on social distancing.
 
Throughout the month, 42 employees clocked up an impressive 11,903 miles, beating their target for the challenge and initially raising £1,340. The Cadbury Foundation stepped in to match the total raised and Mondelēz International’s employees also chose to donate to each charity through the company’s BOOST employee wellbeing initiative – bringing the total to an incredible £3,340.
 
A 30 team members from the snacking company’s Bournville site took part, with the rest of the group comprised of employees from Mondelēz International’s other sites in Zurich, Uxbridge, Sheffield, Marlbrook and Chirk.
 
For the challenge, the team raised money for both Acorns Children's Hospice and Grocery Aid. The hospice provides vital care for life limited and life threatened children and support for their families.
 
Grocery Aid helps people across the whole of the grocery industry – from the largest factory, through the supply chain, to the smallest store. The charity provides support to members of the industry in times of need, both financially and emotionally.
 
Catriona Newman at Mondelēz International said: “We’re so happy to have been able to complete this challenge and we’re thrilled to have gone further and raised more money than we originally set out to do.

“Both charities are incredibly important to the beneficiaries they support, so we’re happy to be able to continue supporting them with our fundraising. We are still planning on completing our charity cycle ride later this year to boost our funds, either as planned or virtually.”
 
Kelly Farrell, community affairs manager at Mondelēz International, said: “With COVID-19 disrupting so many of our colleagues fundraising initiatives, we’re proud that the team didn’t let it stop them from raising money for two deserving charities. The Mondelēz International April 10,000 was an incredible undertaking and we want to thank everyone for their unwavering support.”
 

The English Premier League is set to restart on June 17 with the games between Aston Villa and Sheffield United and Manchester City v Arsenal the first two fixtures that will launch a deluge of games – subject to government approval.

As those two are games in hand that were still outstanding before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, a full round of fixtures would then follow during the weekend of June 19 to 21.

There are 92 matches still to be played with the first ones to take place bringing the number of games in the division equally up to scratch.

All of the matches will take place behind closed doors and will be broadcast live by Amazon Prime, BBC Sport BT Sport and Sky Sport.

It’s the first time since the inception of the Premier League in 1992 that the BBC will be showing live games.

Safety guidelines are yet to be issued by the government and decisions will remain subject to the continuing fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Richard Masters, the chief executive of the Premier League said: “The Premier League and our clubs are proud to have incredibly passionate and loyal supporters and it’s important to ensure that as many people as possible can watch the matches at home”.

He added that the resumption date would not be unreservedly confirmed “until we have met all of the safety requirements”.

Hana Kimura, a professional Japanese wrestler who also appeared in the latest series of Netflix's reality show Terrace House, has died at the age of 22.

Stardom Wrestling, Kimura's organisation, confirmed the news and asked fans to be respectful.

The cause of death was not immediately clear.

Shortly before she died, she issued a series of troubling social media posts implying she had been cyber-bullied.

The most recent update on her Instagram story on Friday featured a photo of her with her cat, with a caption that read "goodbye".

A winner of Stardom's 2019 Fighting Spirit Award, Kimura was one of the cast members of Japanese reality TV show Terrace House, before it was suspended due to coronavirus. The show follows three men and three women as they temporarily live toagether in a house.

Confirming her death on Twitter, Stardom said: "Please be respectful and allow some time for things to process, and keep your thoughts and prayers with her family and friends."

Her mother was also a well-known wrestler, Kyoko Kimura.

British Athletics have announced a crucial partnership with London Marathon Events to improve the future development of athletics talent with a structured network of talent development hubs - running programmes that provide athletes aged 16-21 years with a seamless experience through the performance pathway, to ultimately fulfil ambitions of success on the international stage.
 
The talent hubs, developed in collaboration with the Home Country Athletics Federations, will see talent hubs and academies developed across all home nations. England Athletics will be supported by the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) to implement the University of Birmingham and Leeds Beckett University Hubs.
 
London Marathon Events will play a key part in the structure by providing investment specifically for the development of 1500m-plus events based at the two universities with the aim to support endurance athlete and coaches to progress and transition from junior to senior success.
 
With Birmingham and Leeds already operational having taken part in the strategy pilot, and in light of the Covid-19 outbreak, part of the programmes are already being adapted into virtual, online based activity and e-learning to ensure the ongoing support for athletes and coaches and the ability of the programme to ensure safe activity at this challenging time.
 
The TASS element will be key in providing additional performance support services and quality assurance of delivery in sports science and medical support.
 
British Athletics Talent Director Jonathan Roberts said: “We are thrilled with the launch of the talent hubs at Leeds Beckett and Birmingham, as they play a key part of providing a dual career pathway for athletes and additional support for coaches.
 
“London Marathon Events’ investment into the endurance events is a hugely significant boost to this newly evolving talent pathway across the UK.  We are thrilled that they have given the talent hubs their endorsement and support and look forward to working with them in this area of talent development.
 
“To work in collaboration with London Marathon Events, England Athletics, the universities and TASS gives us the best opportunity to provide the best pathway for athletes and additional support for coaches, as one part of our vision for talent development in the UK.”
 
Hugh Brasher, Event Director at London Marathon Events, said: “We are passionately committed to supporting the overall development of British distance running and we believe the creation of these new talent hubs at Leeds Beckett and Birmingham offer vital support to young British athletes as they move from school to university.”
 

Golfing legend Tiger Woods teamed up with former American football hero Peyton Manning to beat sporting counterparts Phil Mickelson and former New England Patriots record-breaking quarterback Tom Brady in a charity match which raised $20,000,000 for coronavirus relief efforts in the United States, with the legend that is Brady hitting the shot of the day by holing out from the fairway on the seventh.

It was Woods and Manning who came out on top here after holding off Mickelson and Brady in what was a highly-anticipated ‘The Match: Champions for Charity’ exhibition match at the Medalist Golf Club in Florida which originally set out to raise $10m.

However online donations helped the end result reaching $20m.

“I take my hat off to Tom and Peyton”, Woods said. “This is our arena and what we do for a living.

“I couldn’t imagine going on the field and doing what they do”, he added.