in order to protectjobs. the league also says the top—flight season won't resume until "it's safe and appropriate to do so". our sports correspondent, andy swiss, has that story. cheering. it is the richest league in football but with sport in shutdown, it seems even the premier league's millionaires are now paying a price. with the clubs facing what they called "substantial and continuing losses", they said they'd consult players about a combination of reductions and deferrals amounting to 30% of their total annual renumeration. the move follows growing criticism after clubs, including tottenham and newcastle, announced they were using the government's furlough scheme for non—playing staff, while continuing to pay their players in full. we now need to see them having very serious,

very quick talks with the players, sit down with their representatives and come to an agreement across the premier league. and also, potentially, across the whole of football, in order to ensure that the burden on the taxpayer is as low as possible, but also that they protect the smaller clubs. well, football in england at the highest level is renowned for its riches. here at manchester united, for example, revenues last season were a record £620 million. but as a sport with such wealth, football's response to the current crisis has come under scrutiny. it's understood the premier league captains, led by liverpool'sjordan henderson, are discussing giving money to charity and the league itself has given £20 million to the nhs. some believe the criticism of football has been harsh. there was a little bit of a backlash to the premier league players, who obviously are not going to come out and say anything individually at the moment because, you know, they're relying on the union to speak for them and obviously that's happened today. the premier league had hoped

to return to playing at the start of may, but now say that won't happen. instead, they'll hope their actions off the pitch can provide a positive. andy swiss, bbc news. and finally, bill withers, the soul singer behind hits such as lean on me and ain't no sunshine, has died. # lean on me. # when you're not strong. # and i'll be your friend. # i'll help you carry on...# he passed away in los angeles from heart complications. his family describe him as a solitary man, with a heart driven to connect to the world. bill withers, who has died at the age of 81. that's it. newsnight with mark urban is on bbc two in ten minutes,

examining whether the uk's lockdown measures are working. and on the bbc news channel there's a first look at tomorrow morning's front page in the papers. now on bbc one, it's time for the news where you are. have a very good night. hello, i'm sarah mulkerrins at the bbc sport centre. football clubs and the pay of their players has been in the headlines for the last few days, and today the premier league announced that it was asking footballers to take a 30% pay cut, in order to protectjobs. they will now put the proposals to the players. the premier league also said the season would not resume until "it was safe and appropriate to do so". our sports reporter laura scott has more. there has been furious reaction this week mainly from politicians and also fans to some clubs choosing to use thejob

also fans to some clubs choosing to use the job retention scheme for nonplaying staff and there was immense pressure on the clubs and players to take action regarding players to take action regarding player salaries. you mention this 30% idea, they will be consulted on a 30% wage deferral or reduction, my understanding is that it is based on a number of scenarios to do with potential match day revenue losses, if they return to play behind closed doors, but also potential broadcast losses if they don't end up playing the game. they will have a meeting tomorrow, these talks continue, but not everyone is entirely happy with what they have heard today. when it comes to wages, it is a small step but we are still seemingly quite a long way from getting that sorted, when it comes to other things such as the hundred and 25 million for smaller clubs, that is a good move because i have seen the devastation in places like bury, when there football clu b in places like bury, when there football club is ta ken in places like bury, when there football club is taken away and i don't want to see is coming out of this crisis with more community

stripped of their football club because it is the lifeblood of many of our towns and cities. on this theme, the lta have announced they're putting aside up to 20 million pounds to help tennis venues, coaches, officials and players through the coronavirus pandemic. singles players ranked outside the top 100 who don't already receive any funding from the governing body will be eligible for grants. the chief executive scott lloyd and the rest of his team will take temporary pay cuts of 20%. the measures follows this week's cancellation of wimbledon and all the lta's summer grass court season. and in cricket and england's men's centrally contracted players will make an initial donation of half a million pounds to the ecb and other good causes. the announcement comes after several days of discussions over how the country's leading cricketers might respond to the pandemic... the contribution is the equivalent of all of the centrally contracted players taking a 20% reduction in their monthly retainers

for the next three months. meanwhile england's womens side have volunteered a salary reduction for the next three months in line with coaches and support staff. captain heather knight saying that "we know how the current situation is affecting the game and we want to help as much as we can". the world heavyweight title fight between anthonyjoshua and the ibf‘s mandatory challenger kubrat pulev of bulgaria has been postponed. the bout was due to take place at tottenham hotspur stadium on the 20th ofjune. joshua's promoter matchroom boxing said a new date for the fight "was being worked on". next to one athlete turning from professional sport, to front line working in the nhs. layla guscoth is an england netballer and she played until very recently in australia for the adelaide thunderbirds. she is also a junior doctor. and, since last monday, she back in her scrubs and is part of the team treating covid—i9 patients in birmingham.

i spoke to her about the transition. i had spoken to the club in australia that i play for maybe a couple of days before the decision to pause our league over there happened and the coach had asked what i would want to do with the league was postponed and i said that i would like to come home and they we re i would like to come home and they were supportive of that. at that time, australia had started to close the borders and flights were becoming very difficult and a lot of interchanging airports were closing like singapore and dubai. it was touch and go for about 2k hours, we didn't know if we would be able to get a flight but we managed to get one about 36 hours before we flew, we had one. until i got on that plane, ididn‘t we had one. until i got on that plane, i didn't really speak to my family too much about it all. are you feeling overwhelmed yet, everybody is talking about this peak

and when it may come and i wonder what stage it may be out? it is quite early for me and i don't think i have yet been exposed to what some of my friends and colleagues have had andi of my friends and colleagues have had and i was nervous going back into its just not knowing what to expect. it is not something i read ina expect. it is not something i read in a medical textbook and it is not something i've encountered before. it is also new and there is so much hype and media around it all that it is difficult to put that all to one side and just go to work. but i think it is a supportive atmosphere at the moment and morale seems quite high and people seem very engaged in trying to do the bestjob that we can. it is challenging and overwhelming but i'm just trying to focus on the things that i know, the good sources of information and trying to seep help from the right people. have you seen the applause for the nhs? yes, i saw the one last

week, i was prettyjet—lagged but i managed to stay up to see and hear it on the one again last night. it is amazing that people are coming out to clap for not just the is amazing that people are coming out to clap for notjust the nhs but for carers throughout all of our society and i hope that after this gets better and subsides which i really hope it will do that people still remember how great our nhs is and for me personally, ifeel such pride working for the nhs and i think it's a really important bit of our society. we are all really grateful for that. now, for some the postponement of the olympic games until 2021 has thrown up some difficult questions. british rower tom ransley was all set to be part of the men's eight, defending their 0lympic title — but the prospect of adding another year onto his career, was something he couldn't face — as jo currie reports. the golden moment for great british rowing and the eight men on board. but, one of them wanted more.

after winning in rio, tom ransley was targeting a spot at this summer's olympics in tokyo. but, after the games were postponed until 2021, he says his body and mind simply can't hold on. even though it is tough and close to that decision point, it is tough to let go of an objective, i am just looking forward to seeing the guys and i think it will be an absolutely awesome games and yes, will miss it in some senses, but it is not my 0lympics so i am just looking forward to seeing the guys do well. rowing involves a lot of early mornings out on the water and that is on top of the backbreaking training sessions in the gym as well. for tom, the prospect of having to do this for another year has proved too much. as i said, it is really tough. it is notjust getting on the boat because i actually miss being on the water, it is doing it day in, day out,

all the mileage, all the pushing through injuries, therejust let up. great britain, it is a bronze medal! tom's success in rio followed on from winning bronze in london 2012. so, how hard was it to give up on the prospect of competing at a third games? you know, there's always going to be an end, you would be able to do this forever, so i had that conversation and then from then on, it was more of a case of accepting retirement and going forward and as i said, with coronavirus, perhaps there is that opportunity, that space to try and go again but, actually, it probably gave me the finality and confirmation that this was the right decision and that tokyo is for the other guys. tom says he is now hoping to transition into a career injournalism and more importantly, he is looking forward

to a much deserved lie i. that's all from sportsday. see you again soon. hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me is writer and broadcaster mihir bose, and i'm also joined by rachel cunliffe, the comment & features editor for city am. you might stroll by? bound to make an appearance. many of tomorrow's front pages are already in. ‘don‘t go out and enjoy the sunshine' — that's the message on the front

of the telegraph after the government warned the coronavirus lockdown could be tightened if the public ignores social distancing rules this weekend — when temperatures are expected to reach 20 degrees. the i features that plea from the prime minister for people to stay at home in order to protect the nhs. the chief nursing officer has also asked for the public not to be tempted by the warm weather after two nurses died from coronavirus — that story is on the front of the mirror. the guardian says the government's pledge to carry out 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of the month is unravelling, with scientists and laboratory staff warning they do not have the supplies to scale up testing. the times reports that a government adviser on coronavirus has warned a prolonged period of lockdown risks causing more suffering than the virus itself. and the daily express leads with the queen's special message which will be televised on sunday. the paper says she is expected to call for the british people to unite in order to beat the coronavirus. so, let's make a start. with that all—important message on the i, stay

at home, pm's plea to britain as the sun comes out. particularly important to make that play because people have been locked away for a couple of weeks now and are probably suffering from a bit of cabin fever. yes and the temptation will be to go out, some people have been a bit naughty around where i live in west london, in the parks you can see people exercising with their trainers and so on and they don't look like family members to me, so who knows. i've heard people still driving up to sunny places if the weather is really nice, that will be a temptation. it is more than a request, matt hancock was very clear in what he said at the press conference, it is an instruction and order. i think there are suggestions that the stay at home order is fraying at the moment and this

weekend, the second since it came about, is an important one. so far, the government have been trying to make the message clear but still doing it by consent. rather than being as strict as other countries have been? it is important that the government does it by consent and we shouldn't pretend that this is easy. in the first week of lockdown, there was a huge amount of community spirit and everybody was getting into it, but it is incredibly difficult. human contact is very important, people are really starting to miss their loved ones andi starting to miss their loved ones and i worried about them, of course not everybody lives in a big house with a garden and so, obviously you will need reminded of why this is so important, but the idea that the government might get overly stringent and call the police and do what they have done in some other countries where you need a piece of paper to be outside of the house to prove why, that could end up doing more harm than good because people

have to be on board