Remove your tattoos, beijing tells Chinese football players

‘Are we choosing a good football player or a saint,’ asks angry fan.

Beijing: Footballers playing in China’s national team should remove any existing tattoos and are “strictly prohibited” from getting any new ones, the country’s sports administration body has said. The sport has found itself in the crosshairs of the Communist Party’s purity drive in recent years, and players on the national football team routinely cover their arms with long sleeves or bandages to hide their tattoos.

It went on to say that the under-20 national teams and those even younger were “strictly prohibited” from recruiting anyone with tattoos. But not all fans appeared to be behind the new rules. “Are we choosing a good football player or a saint?” asked one angry fan on the social media platform Weibo. “Shall we just say outright that only the Party members could play football?” asked another.