Footballers With Glasses: Can Soccer Players Wear It?
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Besides, there are also some rules dictated by FIFA, that impose the footballers to do or not do certain things, such as the one that prevents wearing jewelry during a match. There is a particular ritual that is not enforced by FIFA: wearing glasses. In fact, is very difficult to see a player, but also a coach or a referee that wears them during a match.
In the history of football, however, there have been some players who brought glasses. They made them part of the historical-aesthetic narrative of the sport.
In this article, I’ll guide you to what accessories you can wear on the field and some of the famous footballers with glasses.
What FIFA says
The basic equipment of a football player is settled in the 4th regulation rule. And it is made of 5 parts: a jersey or shirt, shorts, stockings, shinguards, and footwear. For the extra pieces of equipment FIFA says:
“A player may use equipment other than the basic equipment provided that its sole purpose is to protect him physically and it poses no danger to him or any other player.”
There is also a paragraph where is written: “In view of the new technology that has made sports spectacles much safer, both for the wearer and for other players, referees should show tolerance when authorizing their use, particularly for younger players.”
So it is explicitly written that thanks to new materials, the necessity of using glasses must not be an obstacle for players, above all the youngest. Light problems with sight could be corrected in adulthood. But there are some situations when doctors prescribe the use of glasses.
Plexiglass and impact-resistant lenses, protective frames made of rubber, elastic bands to fix glasses, and anti-fog technologies that allow a view always clear. More and more modern and better, they still remain, and equipment is not so popular among players. But in the history of football, there were some players that made their glasses a protagonist.
Can Soccer Players Wear Jewelry?
It’s the duty of soccer officials to check players before they enter the field of play. It’s a critical aspect of their jobs.
If they find a soccer player to be wearing jewelry either before entering or while on the soccer field, the match officials will tell them to take the prohibited items off.
We all know how rebellious soccer players can be, though. The intensity of the game and the testosterone involved in the game hype a player’s mood.
You can imagine the potential for a soccer player to resist instructions to remove jewelry. Under those circumstances, a soccer player can be ordered to leave the field when the play stops again.
Sometimes, players deserve some benefit of the doubt and cannot remove the offending item while still on the field of play. A repeat offense or blatant refusal to remove jewelry can cause caution for the offending player.
Annibale Frossi
The football story of Annibale Frossi is a unique story that started in Udine in the first years of the 20th century. When he first moved to Padova, his widowed mother called the police. Because her son, who was underaged, was defiant and needed to return to finish school.
She wanted her son to become a doctor like his father. But Annibale was able to convince his mother who eventually allowed him to play football. External attack with a quick run, Gianni Brera said of him:
“he didn’t have a good touch of the ball and he was not good in acrobatics because he needed to play with glasses”
In fact, he was inseparable from his pair of glasses, which at that time were a normal pair with round lenses. But this aspect did not stop him from scoring lucrative goals that brought Italy to win its first gold medal during the 1936 Olympics Games in Berlin. That summer he moved to Inter, where he won two Serie A and then became an observer. At the end of his career, after graduating in law, he then attempted to become a coach without success.
Intercontinental Cup
From as early as the 70s, a Belgian player wore glasses as a necessity. Jef Jurion suffered from myopia and for this, his use of the accessory was mandatory. He also wore them during the night of 26th September 1962 when Anderlecht, after drawing 3 to 3 at Santiago Bernabeu.
They managed to pass the preliminary stage of the Champions League by winning by a goal scored by the Belgian striker. It is made an exploit and eliminated from the competition players like Di Stefano, Puskas, Gento, and other Blancos.
Some years later during the 70s, during the Intercontinental Cup Estudiantes and Feyenoord appeared in another case. In the Dutch team, there were two footballers with glasses: Rinus Israel and Joop Van Daele, a young defender. It was the latter, who took the place of the legendary Coen Moulijn, that scored the lucrative goal that permitted the Hollander to raise the cup.
During the exultation after having scored the goal, Argentinian players tore off his glasses, crushing them on the ground and complaining that he was not authorized to use them during the match. The unique fact of this event was honored in the song “Het Brilletje van Van Daele” (The Van Daele glasses). And it is a story that will always remain in the history of the club.
Edgar Davids And Goggles
When thinking of footballers with glasses in football, one of the first names that come to mind is Edgar Davids. The Pitbull is nicknamed because of his grit and for his yearning will the win. It is hidden behind his pair of black glasses which have been a unique signature pair that have helped to identify him all around the globe.
But yet, he won one of his biggest trophies without wearing glasses: in 1996. After having won above all a Champions League with Ajax, he came to Italy wearing an A.C. Milan shirt. The next year a bad injury conjures doubt in his ability. But instead, he pointed out more for parties than the attendance on the pitch.
He moved to Juventus where he came back as the talented player he was with Ajax. He played as a protagonist in the 1998 World Cup with Oranje but very soon the results of the black & white shirt became bad.
At the beginning of the 2000-2001 season, glaucoma threatened to end his career. The therapy didn’t work so he didn’t have any other choice but surgery. For the next seasons, glasses were not necessary but Davids still wore them inside and outside the pitch.
Glasses not only became his signature on the pitch but also made him one of the most creative players in the 90s and an icon of his sport.
Some Footballers with glasses
Lilian Thuram
What many soccer fans didn’t know is that the French legend had some issues with eyesight. And that he wore contact lenses on the soccer field.
He still managed to win the World Cup with France.
Kaka
Truth be told, I always had his suspicions about AC Milan and Brazil legend Kaka. There was seldom a moment on the soccer field when he didn’t look like he was squinting.
He wore contact lenses during soccer matches and won many trophies at Real Madrid.
David De Gea
Once among the most sought-after soccer goalkeepers in the world. A key feature for any goalkeeper is the capacity to develop a read for the game both on the defense and when turning defense into offense.
Your peripheral vision is critical under those circumstances. De Gea is among those soccer players who need a little help with that.
We know he wears contact lenses when on the soccer field.
It is not so common but there are a lot of footballers with glasses on the pitch. They are proof that sight problems are not an obstacle that prevents you from becoming a professional football player.
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