While we have certainly expressed our discontent with some recent athlete tattoos, it looks like there are people in the world who are more fed up with the phenomenon than we are. Tattoos like David Beckham’s Jesus tattoo, A.J. McCarron’s ridiculous chest tattoo, and Monta Ellis’ family tree design highlight some of the most recent bizarre artwork, but the tattoos themselves don’t seem to be the problem for German soccer club Werder Bremen. The risk in getting them is.
According to the German newspaper The Local, Bundesliga side Werder Bremen has banned players from getting tattoos during the soccer season because of the inherent risk of infection. Eljero Elia, another Bundesliga player, contracted a painful infection as a result of tattoo work last year and allegedly had trouble putting on his uniform because of it. Elia’s infection inspired the ban.
Considering Werder Bremen’s players are loaded with ink, the ban will probably be resisted and tough to enforce — unless team management plans to strip players down and comb for fresh tats. Then the question becomes what the proper punishment for getting a tattoo mid-season could possibly be.
Here are some pictures of Werder Bremen players with tattoos to give you a better idea of why the ban could be extremely unpopular:
