1/ It's interesting that the Guardian treats this as a story at all, give the letter is not public, so we don't know who signed it. "co-signed by 84 leading academics from a range of fields *including* sport". How many of these have relevant expertise? https://twitter.com/runthinkwrite/status/1301072374662598656

2/ There is a trend for academics campaign *as academics* on issues they know nothing about, see a recent letter to the Scottish Census authorities from academics who (almost without exception) have never touched quantitative data. https://murrayblackburnmackenzie.org/2020/02/24/a-tale-of-two-letters-whose-views-count/

3/ These academics have a right to free speech, but they are contributing to the trend of mistrust of "experts". A PhD in English or Engineering does not make you an expert on sport or data. Organisations and media need to look more sceptically at academics' credentials.