Ah, the post-match (and sometimes halftime) tradition of players exchanging sweat-soaked shirts with members of the opposing team. According to FIFA, the first recorded instance of this ritual was in 1931 when the French team requested their English opponents' shirts to "commemorate their historic 5-2 victory at Colombes." Yet, the most famous swap -- and the one that sparked the modern craze -- was when legends of the game Pele and Bobby Moore did it after the 1970 World Cup match between Brazil and England.
But why do they do this?!
No, it's not a perverse means of guilting an opponent into disposing of your dirty laundry, it's actually a display of sportsmanship. After battling on the pitch for 90 minutes, the shirt exchange is a way of showing respect and camaraderie between combatants. Of course, some footballers decline to trade shirts because, well, they just don't want some other guy's perspiration-drench shirt. Others, meanwhile, go the opposite way and even wear the stank-moistened garment they've been handed as the ultimate sign of high regard. Or the desperate desire to wear any shirt, no matter how soiled.
Teams issue fresh kits for every match, so giving away shirts isn't a big deal for players. When Pele played for the New York Cosmos, he would be provided with as many as 25 or 30 shirts to accommodate all the requests he would get -- an extreme example of how the shirt of the opposing team's best player is usually the one most desired. But aside from a legend like Pele or a superstar like Cristiano Ronaldo, shirt exchanges are usually a random affair done with the nearest opponent or one who provided a particularly praise-worthy performance.
Some players collect shirts as mementos of their careers and some probably use them for a variety of regifting, cash-raising and decorative purposes.
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