Gary Jacob
José Mourinho and his players have
been warned by Tottenham Hotspur
after they were pictured flouting the
government’s lockdown guidelines.
The Tottenham head coach was seen
standing with Tanguy Ndombele, the
midfielder, and two others on Hadley
Common, near Barnet in north London.
Mourinho appeared to be holding a
stopwatch and timing a player running.
Three other Tottenham players were
also caught breaking the rules. Davin-
son Sánchez and Ryan Sessegnon, who
live in the same apartment block, were
pictured running next to each other by
a roadside. Serge Aurier was seen jog-
ging with a friend near the common.
Government advice states that the
public are permitted to exercise alone
or with other members of their house-
hold once a day to help protect against
the spread of coronavirus. None of the
players appeared to be following social
distancing rules, which require people
to stay more than two metres apart.
A government spokesman said: “Our
advice is clear and applies to everybody:
stay at home, protect the NHS and save
lives. Anyone not doing this is endan-
gering people’s lives.”
Only last month, Mourinho
appeared in a Fifa campaign alongside
Mauricio Pochettino and Arsène
Wenger to encourage the public to
practise social distancing.
Tottenham last night reminded
everyone at the club about their
responsibilities and the government
guidelines but it is believed they will not
fine Mourinho or the players involved.
Kyle Walker is facing a hefty fine from
Manchester City for holding a party
with two escorts last week. It has
emerged that the pair — who were
reportedly paid £2,200 — had been in-
vited to Walker’s rented Cheshire prop-
erty. He has apologised for his actions.
Jack Grealish was fined by Aston
Villa after the midfielder attended a
party at a former team-mate’s flat.
Mason Mount was also criticised for
playing five-a-side with West Ham’s
Declan Rice when the Chelsea mid-
fielder was supposed to be self-isolating.
The incident comes after Totten-
ham’s official supporters’ group urged
the club to follow Liverpool in reversing
the decision to claim government
money to furlough staff.
Spurs last week imposed 20 per cent
pay cuts on all 550 non-playing staff
with about 40 per cent placed on the
government’s furlough scheme, which
allows employees to claim 80 per cent
of their wages to a maximum of £2,500
a month.
Daniel Levy, the Tottenham chair-
man, is considering using some of the
groundstaff who have not been fur-
loughed to work at his private estate.
Tottenham have insisted he would pay
them privately rather than through the
club to try to keep employees in work.
Levy has said the club will “continue
to review this position” but staff have
received documents to sign stating they
agreed with the pay cuts and temporary
changes to their contracts.Times Crossword27,6 33
across down Yesterday’s solution 27,63 2
Check today’s answers by ringing 0905 757
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access charge. SP: Spoke 0333 202 3390.1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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LABOURERCRU I SE
O A S N H T T
CORRECT I VE OVEN
K E L I A P R
JOBDESCRIPTION
A O S E S A U
WINDSOR PHONEME
E L O M
CASCADE STAMINA
V H S P L G S
ASOPTOCERBERUS
R C A N U A I
MIMI GOLDSM I THS
C C E E I E T
VENEER GRENADES1 Political party putting approach in
writing once (6,1)
5 Malfunction of set roughly turned
the wrong way (3,2)
9 Scottish town to impose
restrictions on very loud music? ( 5 )
10 Port to sink before consuming four
fifths of a pint? (9)
11 Cure not originally presented is
easily best (7)
12 Agreed to gorge, maybe, after
getting round brief food shortage
(2,1,4)
13 Charity fete closing early upset
alderman, perhaps (4,6)
15 Breathe in sharply when visiting
doctor (4)
18 Boy, one often contemplated
endlessly when reflecting (4)
20 Found warm clothing for
parachutist (4,6)
23 Old earl turning red, inflamed by
absorbing strip ( 7 )
24 Light-hearted son having to bear
constant struggles ( 7 )
25 Legendary female cook ill right
after baking ( 9 )
26 Not appropriate one should have
dozed at audition ( 5 )
27 Piece of music and somewhere to
play it ( 5 )
28 Aggressiveness greeting bishops at
one’s Mass (7)1 Determined to support policy that
involves jumping forwards (4-3)
2 Trifle with unpleasant smell and
lacking taste (8)
3 Frenchman, perhaps, with British
army corps (5)
4 Enjoyable novel, left for Yankee
music maker ( 9 )
5 Guitarist celebrity Times article
recalled ( 6 )
6 Leaves, retaining what might be
continental, almost, in spirit ( 7 )
7 Revolutionary deserts his ship,
ultimately presenting poser (5)
8 Let alumni say nothing about head
of Latin ( 8 )
14 Novelist of note eclipsing mediocre
one, some hope? ( 9 )
16 Beneath airborne soldier, spot a
drone? ( 8 )
17 Veg from animal park, essential
with joint, reportedly (8)
19 Medium lycra pants and cape for
one to wear ( 7 )
21 Reduced prize for entering
afternoon heat in advance (7)
22 November leaves intense, rich in
colour ( 6 )
23 Biscuit ends in hollow area of the
floor ( 5 )
24 Bill arriving in post for father of
twelve ( 5 )Overseas prices: Eurozone €4.50 Monday to Friday,
€5.00 Saturday (Portugal cont.); Denmark DKK 33 Monday
to Friday, DKK 40 Saturday; Gibraltar £2.70;
N. Cyprus TL 33 Monday to Friday, TL 36.50 Saturday;
Switzerland CHF 7.80 Monday to Friday, CHF 8.80 Saturdayy(7HB7E2*OTSQNT( |||+=!\
MPs’ fury over
furlough use
Matt Lawton Chief Sports Correspondent
Ascot behind
closed doors
Rob Wright Racing Editor
The Premier League chief executive
Richard Masters has been told to “stop
defending the indefensible” after a row
erupted between England’s top-flight
clubs and MPs over the use of the
government’s furlough scheme.
Masters has responded to mounting
criticism in a letter to the Department
of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in
which he attempts to justify the use by
rich clubs of the job-saving scheme and
warns ministers that football stands to
lose about £1 billion during the corona-
virus crisis.
But Julian Knight, the DCMS
committee chairman, issued a wither-
ing response last night in a media
release that, perhaps provocatively,
also included a copy of Masters’s letter.
Knight had already accused the
Premier League of existing in a “moral
Continued on page 59The Queen is expected to miss Royal
Ascot for the first time in her long reign
after organisers said yesterday that
they still hoped the June meeting would
go ahead, but without any spectators.
This year’s event is due to take place
from June 16 to 20 and although some
major sporting events scheduled for
later in the year — most notably
Wimbledon at the start of July — have
been called off, Royal Ascot said it was
planning for the meeting to take place
behind closed doors.
The Oaks and the Derby, which were
due to have been held on June 5 and
June 6 respectively, were yesterday
postponed until later in the year.
But Guy Henderson, chief executive
of Ascot racecourse, said: “It may prove
possible to run the Royal Ascot races
Continued on page 55Mourinho, wearing Tottenham training gear, appears to lead a training session,
inset top, with Sessegnon and Sánchez also seen running side by side2GM Wednesday April 8 2020 | the times
Sp ort
I had to use a grapefruit as a football,
now I’m dreaming of Ballon d’Or
Pages 58-59
Sadio Mané interview
Mourinho is
warned over
park training
tball,
Spurs manager and players flout lockdown rules