China Just Banned Tattoos On Their Soccer Players, And It Could Cost Them

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Taking the field against Wales last week, the Chinese men's national team was a vision of ideological purity, albeit a patchy one. With long sleeves and skin-colored athletic tape covering their many tattoos, the players confirmed that the Chinese Communist Party's new rules on who is television-worthy has reached the sporting world.

The Chinese Football Association has also reportedly delivered a "no visible ink" order to teams in China's three professional leagues, which had begun the season unfettered by the TV tattoo ban.

This meant that before competing against a better-ranked, more experienced team in the semifinal of the 2018 China Cup, the Chinese players had to pause for a tattoo-wrapping session. They then conceded a goal in the first three minutes, and lost the match 6-0. In their worst rout since falling to Brazil 8-0 in 2010, the Chinese side was outclassed by a disciplined, and rather heavily tattooed, Wales.

Playing in the third-place match against the Czech Republic yesterday, many of the Chinese players took to the field in long sleeves, while forward Tan Long's forearm tattoo was only partially covered with red athletic tape wrapped around his wrist.

Defender Zhang Linpeng, who Chinese national team coach Marcelo Lippi described as the best player in China's top professional league, the Chinese Super League, announced a late withdrawal from the Wales match, citing a shoulder injury. Zhang is one of the team's best and most experienced players. He also has tattoos that reach from his neck to the tops of his hands, and would be difficult to obscure outside of a sports hijab. (Hijabs are also subject to government bans.)

While Zhang had played in Chinese Super League matches this season, he could now face restrictions from the league.

"Dispirited culture"

In January, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of the People’s Republic of China announced a new set of regulations concerning what is and isn't appropriate for television. Gao Changli, the department's director of publicity, read out "Four Absolute No-go's." They were as follows;

Absolutely do not use performers whose heart and morality are not aligned with the party and whose morality is not noble
Absolutely do not use performers who are tasteless, vulgar and obscene
Absolutely do not use performers whose ideological level is low and have no class
Absolutely do not use performers with stains, scandals and problematic moral integrity

The new government ruling targets tattoos and any depictions of "hip hop culture," "subculture," and "dispirited culture," a political term for nondogmatic decadence that exists outside of the Chinese government's nationalist self-image.

In the buildup to the policy's announcement, mainland Chinese television and music underwent a cultural scrubbing, with popular and celebrated rappers particularly affected.

Two rappers, GAI and VaVa, were removed from popular TV shows, while a third, Triple H, had music removed from streaming services. In one TV show, a contestant had a chain necklace blurred out. PG One, perhaps China's most popular rapper, came under fire for lyrics that critics say promoted drug use.

Much of the public discourse has quietly stepped around attitudes towards African-American culture specifically. In PG One's apology, he blamed early influence from "black music."

It remained unclear, however, whether the restrictions leveled at actors and reality stars would extend to the sports world. The specific language could be used for “actor” specifically or "performer" more generally.


The Chinese Ministry of Sport's tattoo-scrubbing policy runs against recent trends in sponsorship and sports branding. Chinese soccer fans, who are very responsive to sponsorship, idolize players in the English Premier League and Spain's La Liga, many of whom sport prominent tattoos.

At home, tattoos are perhaps more popular than ever, particularly in major cities, where China's soccer clubs are based. China's three largest cities, Shanghai, Beijing-Dalian and Guangzhou, each have two Chinese Super League teams.

Inked-up celebrities are also not uncommon in Chinese advertising campaigns. Tommy Hilfiger's Asia ambassador Shawn Yue's tattoos, for example, are regularly visible in ads. Badminton player Lin Dai took part in an entire ad series celebrating the meaning behind his tattoos.

In the aftermath of these new regulations, there's already been some pushback on social media and in the press. An article appeared on the popular Chinese news site, titled, "Why do NBA players like tattoos so much?" The article explained the motivation behind getting a tattoo, and the diversity represented in the designs.

"The charm of the NBA is in these small designs," sports journalist Zhang Jiawei wrote; they are a player's "dignity and pride." Discussing Allen Iverson's rebuke of a magazine cover that airbrushed his tattoos, Zhang states: "The erasure of tattoos capitulated the power dynamic of anti-black discrimination."

It is unclear whether China's heavily-tattooed players, like Zhang, will be able to compete in international matches. Meanwhile, the Chinese Football Association has reportedly left it up to the clubs to manage their players' appearances in upcoming professional matches. No tattoo cover-up has yet impacted the Chinese Basketball Association, or other sports like badminton. For now, it appears that the tattoo ban will not affect foreign soccer players, though it is unclear whether that will change in the future.

At this point, no players, coaches or league sponsors have publicly spoken out against the ban. Though one youth national team coach has spoken up in favor.

Interviewed about the new policy, Jia Xiuquan, the coach of China's men's Under 19 soccer team said: "Any team player who wants to be selected to the next match should wash their tattoos and the dye out of their hair."

The coach added with no apparent sense of irony: "They should focus on the game rather than their image or appearance."

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