Analysis: Tattoos tend to symbolise something important in a person’s life, but they take on another level of meaning for professional athletes<\/p>\n
By Gustavo Morello<\/a>, Boston College<\/a><\/p>\n With the 2026 FIFA World Cup<\/a> underway, news and social media will be full of pictures of the players and many of them will be showing their tattoos. Body art has become increasingly part of international soccer, although its prevalence can vary across geographical regions. A study of athletes participating in the 2018 World Cup found<\/a> that Latin American players were the most heavily tattooed, followed by those from Oceania and Europe. African and Asian players are the least tattooed.<\/p>\n I have been studying tattoos and their spiritual and religious roles<\/a> since 2018. Tattoos are an investment of time and money; they tend to symbolise something important in the person’s life. For professional athletes, however, they take on another level of meaning.<\/p>\n We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences<\/a><\/p>\n From RT\u00c9 Radio 1’s Oliver Callan Show, interview with Elizabeth O’Riordan and Emma Barber from the Ink Collective in Cork, the women-led tattoo shop marking five years of business in Cork<\/p>\n These athletes operate in controlled environments in which what they do and say with their bodies is highly regulated. A player cannot freely ski, ride, work out or take vacations without considering contractual obligations to companies and other investors. Most of the professionals playing in the World Cup have also signed sponsorship agreements that regulate what they can display on their social media. Against this backdrop, tattoos remain one of the few spaces of personal freedom. As my colleagues and I found in our research<\/a>, those who get them are choosing to reveal what is important and sacred to them.<\/p>\n Breaking the code<\/p>\n Sociologists Sam Belkin<\/a> and Dale Sheptak<\/a> argue that tattoos are often a way for athletes to express their humanity<\/a> in environments where they may be subjects of unreal expectations or treated as an asset. Belkin and Sheptak write that visible tattoos are a type of “nonverbal communication” that enables players to be honest about their personal feelings and what matters to them.<\/p>\n My colleagues and I analyzed<\/a> the tattoos of the Argentine men’s national team<\/a> that won the World Cup in Qatar in 2022<\/a>. We looked at about 200 pictures and found that 20 of the 26 players on the roster had a total of 226 tattoos.<\/p>\n We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences<\/a><\/p>\n From RT\u00c9 Radio 1’s The Business, Simon Kuper, author of World Cup Fever, dissects the language of the World Cup<\/p>\n We analyzed the team’s demographics and the tattoo designs and placement on the players\u2019 bodies. We also analyzed interviews where some of them had talked about their lives and, in some cases, the stories behind their tattoos. By placing these tattoos in the broader context of their professional paths and religious and popular culture, we were able to better understand what the body art meant to them.<\/p>\n This World Cup, with its unprecedented global outreach, offers a unique opportunity to observe the values, beliefs and relationships that players choose to display on their bodies.<\/p>\n A majority of players expressed their religious beliefs through their tattoos: 75% of them \u2013 15 out of 20 \u2013 featured body art of religious figures connected to Catholicism, like the Virgin Mary, Jesus and saints; some also had tattoos of doves associated with the holy spirit, and churches.<\/p>\n We also saw religious diversity. There were tattoos of the Buddha, folk saints and spiritual objects. One player had a tattoo of a dream catcher \u2013 a handcrafted willow hoop with a woven net that resembles a spider\u2019s web, typically hung above a bed to offer protection; another had the word “energ\u00eda” \u2013 energy \u2013 inked on his body.<\/p>\n We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences<\/a><\/p>\n From RT\u00c9 2fm Morming with Laura Fox, tattoo artist Patric Aultice from Wildcat Tattoo Studios on tattoo changes and removals<\/p>\n 75% of the players had tattoos depicting what they achieved in their careers. Some of the symbols they used were trophies, jerseys and numbers. Usually the numbers they got corresponded to the jersey numbers they wear. 80% \u2013 16 players \u2013 had tattoos that portrayed what they loved. These tattoos include designs of numbers \u2013 usually dates of their children\u2019s births \u2013 names of beloved ones or their partner\u2019s eyes or lips. Some tattoos expressed their extended family, including parents, grandparents, people who helped raise them, and even pets.<\/p>\n Placement was also important. About 60% of the tattoos were on the arms and head, locations that were easily visible<\/a> when they are performing on the field. But the design of the tattoo also decided its placement: Religious symbols were usually placed on the entire shoulder or biceps, or on the upper or lower leg. Tattoos related to professional careers were usually located on the player\u2019s dominant leg. Animal tattoos were usually placed on backs, and not visible during games.<\/p>\n Not all tattoos are the same<\/p>\n Many scholars who study soccer have examined its relationships with politics<\/a> and explored how the sport has been a venue for politics<\/a>. Diego Maradona<\/a>, for example, had a tattoo of Che Guevara<\/a> on his right arm and Fidel Castro<\/a> on his calf, expressing his revolutionary political view. Our research team did not find political tattoos among current players.<\/p>\n Gender is also important when looking at tattoos. Female players are often subjected to greater scrutiny than their male counterparts. When Argentina\u2019s national women\u2019s team captain Yamila Rodriguez<\/a> revealed tattoos of Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a>, she faced intense criticism from fans and media for having the Portuguese superstar and not Argentinean Lionel Messi<\/a> depicted in tattoo. Rodriguez\u2019s experience highlights that women\u2019s bodies are subjected to personal judgment in a way that men\u2019s are not.<\/p>\n This World Cup, with its unprecedented global outreach, offers a unique opportunity to observe the values, beliefs and relationships that players choose to display on their bodies. In some ways, tattoos can be seen as a small window into the players’ souls.<\/p>\n Follow RT\u00c9 Brainstorm on WhatsApp<\/a> and Instagram<\/a> for more stories and updates<\/p>\n Gustavo Morello<\/a> is a professor of Sociology at Boston College<\/a>. This article was originally published by The Conversation<\/a>.<\/p>\n The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RT\u00c9<\/p>\n