Global FootballUpdated 21h ago

China again makes national-team players cover tattoos.

At China’s Oct. 6 friendly against Tajikistan, several national-team players wore skin-tone sleeves to cover their tattoos. China lost 1-0, but the rule behind those sleeves is older: restrictions on national-team players began in the 2018–19 season, then enforcement eased in recent years. Now authorities are applying them strictly again. The renewed push comes amid a rough run: losses of 3-0 to New Zealand and 5-0 to Palestine, and a fall to 96th in FIFA’s rankings. Beijing-based journalist and analyst William Bi suggests those results may have displeased officials and helped bring the rules back more forcefully.

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