China bans its national football players from getting tattoos

China bans its national football players from getting tattoos

Football player Zhang Linpeng of China

Zhang Linpeng, who plays for China's national football platoon, has preliminarily been asked to cover his tattoos

• Footballers who play for China's national platoon have been banned from getting tattoos-and advised to remove ones they've-under a new directive.

The country's sports administration body said retaining new players with tattoos at national position and to youth outfits was" rigorously banned".

The administration said the move would help set a" good illustration for society".

Some national stars, including protector Zhang Linpeng, have preliminarily been told to cover their tattoos.

China has been decreasingly stepping up regulation sincemid-2018 to stop tattoos being shown on defenses. Some professional footballers have ago been covering their arms with long sleeves to hide their body art.

In a statement, the country's General Administration of Sport ( GAS) said national players with tattoos were" advised to have them removed".

"In special circumstances, the tattoos must be covered during training and competition, with the concurrence of the rest of the team,"it said.

Footballers and the meaning behind their tattoos

In Chinese culture a smirch has been attached to tattoos-in the history they were used to ingrain culprits and the tattoo still has links to organised crime groups in east Asia. Tattoos among ethnical groups were frequently seen as a mark of the uncivilised.

They're disapproved of by China's ruling Communist Party, but have come decreasingly popular among youthful Chinese.

Before this time, China's broadcasting controller announced that it was tensing rules on what it described as" unhealthy content".

TV and internet appearances by sports personalities and celebrities have been confined in cases involving tattoos and men's ponytails-in some cases these have been blurred from defenses.

Last December, a women's university football match in China had to be called off after players were told they weren't allowed to have bepainted hair.

The match organisers, the National Youth Campus Football League, said in a statement at the time"Athletes at all stages shall not have tattoos, bepaint their hair, wear weird hairstyles, or wear any accessories, otherwise they will be ineligible for the competition."