The possible motives behind the Madeira born player’s reasons for resisting the tattoo parlour and his tendency for giving blood on a regular basis could be the principal motive.
After every tattoo, according to the Red Cross one is prohibited from giving blood for at least four months as to avoid any possible infection transmission. Cristiano Ronaldo gave blood on two occasions as he documented via his social media platforms.
The Real Madrid striker is also a bone marrow donor with the illness affecting the son of his former Portugal team-mate Carlos Martins being the motivating factor and this process also requires the giving of peripheral blood stem cells with Cristiano himself claiming the process is painless.
The Juventus striker is also the world’s most famous bone marrow and blood donor: he donates peripheral blood stem cells as well as blood and this requires him to remain tattoo-free for periods of four months or more.
Rafa Nadal
“I’ll never have a tattoo – I just don’t like them, and when you’re old they can look a disaster. As for piercings, I don’t like them on men,” the 17-times Grand Slam champions said in a interview a few years ago.
Roger Federer
Why Federer has no ink on his body he did not say, but the vast sums he makes through endorsements based on his wholesome image probably has something to do with it.
Novak Djokovic
Janko Tipsarevic may have a fair bit of body art but his compatriot Djokovic has always avoided the tattoo parlour.
Sergio García
The Spanish golfer has no visible tattoos, not even of his idol Seve Ballesteros.
Andrés Iniesta
We imagine the idea of getting a tattoo is anathema to the “White Knight,” who has always shunned the spotlight and prefers to concentrate on his vintages at his Castilla-La Mancha winery.
Pau Gasol
The celebrated basketball player is another exception to the rule in his sport: the NBA is awash with the tattooist’s ink.
Iker Casillas
The former Real Madrid keeper, now at Porto, has always been humble about his achievements and his upbringing in the Madrid suburb of Mostóles was fairly traditional, making him an unlikely candidate to get so much as a dolphin on his ankle for a bet.
Xavi Hernández
Like his former Barcelona teammate Iniesta, we imagine Xavi – and Carles Puyol – would have blanched at any young upstarts marching into the Camp Nou dressing room with a full hipster sleeve. Which is probably why Leo Messi waited until they had left to get inked.
Luka Modric
The Real Madrid man has avoided the tattoo parlours of the Spanish capital, which is no mean feat given the amount of empty skin left on some of his teammates.
Kylian Mbappé
Olympic athletes, almost without exception, get the five rings inked as soon as they are named in a country’s delegation so you would have though the practice would be rife among the even smaller group of a World Cup-winning side. However, Les Bleus golden boy Mbappé has so far remained ink-free.
