England

Less than a week after winning the FA Cup to secure their place in next season's Europa League and as they negotiate a multi-million pound contract extension with striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Arsenal have announced plans to layoff 55 staff. Fans want to blame owner Stan Kroenke.

The club said on Wednesday that the cuts were the result of the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The announcement sparked an immediate social media backlash from fans contrasting the huge sums involved with keeping key players to the lost jobs of staff at the north London outfit.

Brentford has been out of the English first division since 1947 — 73 years — and the Bees' 2-1 loss to Fulham in the Championship playoff final ensured their dream of the top flight will have to wait at least another year. The cagey match was poised at nil-nil after 90 minutes, but two Fulham goals by left back Joe Bryan in the second half of extra time gave Fulham the victory at Wembley.

Tottenham Hotspur defender Danny Rose has said he is tired of racial discrimination after being regularly stopped by police and asked if his car is stolen.

The 30-year-old England international said he has had similar experiences for the last 15 years.

"The last time, last week, when I'd just been at my mum's house, I had pulled up in a car park so the engine was off," he told the Second Captains podcast.

"The police pulled in and they brought a riot van, three police cars and questioned me. They said they'd had a report that a car had not been driving correctly.

Brentford stands to earn some 160 million pounds ($209.28 million) in additional revenue over three years if it defeatd Fulham in Tuesday's Championship playoff final and secure a first-ever trip to the Premier League, Deloitte has said.

An estimated 85 million pounds of that sum would come from central broadcasting distributions and 75 million pounds from parachute payments over the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons if Brentford were relegated after a single campaign, it said.

Players who deliberately cough at opponents or referees can be shown red or yellow cards under new guidelines issued by England's Football Association (FA) amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The instructions to referees taking charge of games when COVID-19 restrictions are in place will come into force immediately and be applied at all levels of the game.

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard says starting the new Premier League season on Sept. 12 is too early and his players run the risk of sustaining injuries given the short turnaround between campaigns.

Chelsea trail Bayern Munich 3-0 heading into the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Saturday and even if they fail to overcome the deficit Lampard's side will have little over a month to recover before the new season begins.