China has banned players in the national football team from getting tattoos. The new directive also advised that players remove the existing tattoos. The move was to set a ‘good example for society,’ the administration said. Since mid-2018, China has been stepping up efforts to limit the visibility of tattoos. The administration sent out directives to limit the visibility of tattoos on screen. Tattoos have, since, been blurred on the screen.
The directive issued by the General Administration of Sport of China (GAS) reads, “Those who have tattoos are advised to remove tattoos by themselves. In cases of special circumstances, tattoos must be covered during training and competition after the consent of the team." In the past, in China, tattoos were used to brand criminals and therefore there is a cultural stigma associated with tattoos.
In December 2020, a women's university football match in China was called off after players were told they were not allowed to have dyed 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, dye their hair, wear weird hairstyles, or wear any accessories, otherwise they will be ineligible for the competition," a BBC report reads.
