Why did Serie A ban the act of taking the shirt off?

In 2003, the last time a player could take off his shirt after scoring a goal without being penalised by the referee. Since 2004, there has been an ironclad rule, later adopted by UEFA, which states that: "a player who takes off his shirt after scoring a goal will be sanctioned with a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct". The rationale behind the rule is that according to the league: taking off the shirt after scoring a goal is not necessary, players must absolutely avoid such excesses when celebrating a goal. During the last episode of Muschio Selvaggio, the podcast by Fedez and Luis Sal in which Bobo Vieri was a guest, the striker told the story of his brand, claiming that the introduction of this rule is to be attributed to his exultation with the Sweet Years jersey. As he stated, a month and a half after that exultation, the league passed the rule, expressly forbidding any player to remove the jersey.

At a time when social media was just a utopia, the only unique and direct way to advertise yourself and reach a huge section of the public was to show your jersey before, during or after the game. Vieri and Maldini (two of the founders of the Sweet Years brand) were well aware of this, as they had developed this ingenious marketing technique. Of course, the Milan defender didn't score as often as his colleague, so Paolo Maldini used to take his shirt off at the end of the game.

Although the ban has been in force since 2004, footballers have never stopped cheering by taking off their shirts. But you don't have to take it off completely: even those who simply put it on upside down, as Ravanelli did, will be shown a yellow card. It seems impossible to put a stop to the adrenaline rush when scoring a decisive goal or in the last minute. Over time, players have used the vest to mock their opponents, as Totti did in the derby on several occasions, or as a protest, as Balotelli did with his iconic "Why always me?", or to underline their origins or belonging, as in the case of Kaka.

It is impossible to know whether that project, which answers to the name Sweet Years, born in 2003 with a simple T-shirt and an obvious but effective symbol, aimed at a very precise public and at that ideal celebrity-tronist-footballer model, a little bit Hollywood and a little bit Papeete Milano Marittima, was the real motivation for this rule. But it is also that in those years the brands of footballers dominated the scene, on the wave of success, Cristian Brocchi became a partner, and later together with Vieri founded Baci&Abbracci, so it seems more or less possible that the League to prevent cases of hidden advertising has passed this rule in order to avoid similar situations.