As a professor of infectious-disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Adam Kucharski has been far too busy in recent weeks to watch much Premier League action. “I was working, unfortunately,” he says. Then again, as a soccer fan in England, he hasn’t been able to escape the drama enveloping his favorite game.
Earlier this month, even as the U.K. entered its third lockdown of the pandemic, government officials granted special dispensation for “elite” pro sports to continue. The results have not been pretty, particularly on the pitch: A half-dozen Premier League players drew rebukes from their clubs for attending holiday parties.