The Rio de Janeiro state championship restarted once again on Sunday as Botafogo — one of the clubs opposed to what they see as a premature resumption of top-level football —— took the field with a banner protesting the decision.

The move to get back underway in Rio has focused attention on the wider confusion surrounding football's stop-start status in the South American nation. Although many clubs are back in training, only Rio has restarted its state league as the daily number of dead and infected due to the new coronavirus remains high.

A plane carrying a banner declaring “White Lives Matter Burnley” flew over Manchester City's Etihad Stadium on Monday at the start of the Premier League game against Burnley.

The plane appeared shortly after players from both teams took a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. There was no indication who had organized the plane and banner.

In the summer of 2016, Bruno Soriano was representing Spain at the Euros while appearing in two group stage matches. He followed that up with another inspirational season as Villarreal’s captain, appearing in 45 games across all competitions while scoring five goals and adding three assists from his defensive midfield position.

Then, for effectively three seasons, nothing — not a single appearance for his beloved Yellow Submarine.

Last night in Rome, Napoli captured the Coppa Italia by defeating Juventus on penalties to send Naples into raptures. There are few cities on the planet that are so culturally and socially intertwined with their football club, and a first major honor since 2014 — coupled with the fact that it was achieved against Cristiano Ronaldo and 94-year rival Juve — drew fans out onto the streets to celebrate into the early hours.

Former Bradford City left back Tyrell Robinson has admitted in court to engaging in sexual activity with an underage girl in August of 2018 and to distributing child pornography through Snapchat. Robinson could very well be facing jail time after being bailed and sentenced to a later date.

The 22-year-old was playing for Bradford in League One when the club first suspended him back in 2018. After police announced the charges against Robinson in February of 2020, Bradford released the winger for gross misconduct.

Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin has said he will ensure 3,000 trees are planted for every victory by his team over the rest of the season to highlight the need to tackle climate change.

"For every game we win this season I will plant 3,000 trees to help combat the carbon emissions issues we have," the Spain international said on Twitter.

Aston Villa and Sheffield United re-started the Premier League on Wednesday after a 100-day hiatus caused by the COVID-19 health crisis with a strong statement of support for the worldwide protests against racism.

All the players' names on the back of their shirts were replaced with the words “Black Lives Matter” as the Premier League formally joined the international protest campaign sparked by the death of George Floyd in America.

As Italian football prepares to resume on Friday with the Coppa Italia semifinals followed by Serie A on June 20, the sport does so under the shadow of a national death toll that’s now surpassed 34,000. 

The United States Soccer Federation (USSF) has begun to consider repealing its ban on players kneeling during the national anthem. The board of directors plans to meet on Tuesday, June 9 to discuss the policy.

This comes in the wake of outrage and resulting protests over the murder of George Floyd while in police custody. Protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and against police brutality have sprung up across the nation and are now drawing global attention.

Ada Hegerberg's season had been cut short by the time the new coronavirus wiped out the football calendar, but the break has given her time to rehabilitate her injured knee and the Ballon d'Or-winning striker is relishing her return to training.

Lyon’s Hegerberg ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament in training in January, a cruel blow that immediately ended the prolific forward's campaign.