Do you want to play for the national team? China bans you from getting tattoos

To take the field with the national football shirt you must not have tattoos. The turning point comes from China Sports Administration on input of Beijing, a step back from freedom of expression, even if this is sought through messages or drawings traced on one’s body. Certainly quite the other way from the rest of the world, where there seems to be hardly any player without at least one tattoo.

“From now on it will be severely it is forbidden to have new tattoos “thundered the members of the Government at the top of the sport. But that’s not enough, because the case extends to those who already have tattoos.

In fact, in the directives issued, it is stated that “athletes who already have tattoos are advised to undergo sessions with specialists in order to remove them, under penalty of exclusion from next calls”. The motivation is this: “We ask the players to adapt to set a good example».

Among the players that we may no longer see wearing the red shirt of China, the defender Zhang Linpeng, Muslim of the Hui minority, who already boasts 80 presence in the national team. In the past, Linpeng had already been “advised” to play wearing a long-sleeved shirt.

The ban on tattoos applies at the moment the men’s national team, the women’s one, the Under 23 and Under 20 representatives. But given the path taken, contrary to the rest of the world, it is not excluded that it will also be extended to other sports realities.

The Chinese battle over tattoos began in 2018, when the Beijing government had banned their display on television. The reason is to be found in the past, when tattoos symbolized belonging to organized crime. And even if times change, the Beijing government does not seem willing to modernize itself.

Among the tattooed players in the orbit of the Chinese national team there is a lot of confusion about the new rule. For example, a note states that in special circumstances the coverage of tattoos by means of may also be allowed bandages, dressings or plasters. But what is meant by special circumstances has not yet been clarified and the strong doubt remains that this remains only an option on paper and that it will never be implemented.

«The new rules serve to fully demonstrate the positive spirit of Chinese footballers», Underline the federal leaders. For women, the situation is even more complicated. In 2019 a match was canceled because some players had dyed hair.

The goal (not openly stated) seems to be precisely that of wanting to purify Chinese culture from the pollution of Western fashions. President Xi Jinping, in fact, it was already clear also as regards the hair of his male compatriots. They must be short and not dyed. He himself, who previously used the hairdresser to cover the white ones, now shows himself with a natural salt and pepper. This program, Xi Jinping encloses it in a slogan: “No more vanity and extravagance».