Explained: Why are footballers wearing 'sports bras' at FIFA World Cup?

South Korea’s Hwang Hee-Chan grabbed the limelight last week when the footballer came off the bench to score the late winner against Portugal. The goal didn’t just sealed Korea’s historic win but also took them to the knockout stages while forcing Uruguay out of the tournament. Amid the wild Korean celebration when Hee-Chan took off his jersey in front of the packed Education City Stadium, the player was spotted wearing a sports bra. While the regular football watchers didn’t mind the sight as they are used to seeing male footballers in such attire, especially during training sessions, the rest of the world did wonder if Hee-Chan was wearing a woman’s sports bra. Is there a sports bra for men? ‘Sports bra for men’, officially called the GPS tracker vest, is actually a thing and is in common usage among male footballers and is often worn under their jerseys. As per experts, in the modern football world, it is seen as something as important as wearing the right shoe on your feet. Why is Sports bra for footballers important? To put it simply, it’s for science! The vest has a GPS device connected to it and helps in collecting individual player GPS data.

Today years old when I learned about sports bras for men. Apparently this sports bra/gps tracker vest is used to collect individualized gps data. 😮 pic.twitter.com/hlRiAO80oL

— p•3•s•t (@p3st) December 2, 2022

From a myopic view, the data collected helps the team managers and trainers to learn details such as how fast or far a player ran during training or a match. It has allowed managers to assess how they need to deal with a player or if they are overworking a player and other important elements. For instance, USA midfielder Brenden Aaronson was recorded covering 13.2 km distance while playing for his club Leeds United; the most recorded by a player in English Premier League this season. However, with so much money involved in the game, football clubs and teams are stressing on having data analysts who can quantify a player’s behaviour on the pitch, tactical know-how and fitness. This is registered through statistics such as how often a player is completing his passes or how often a player relies on his main foot to shoot. Some teams even go to the extent of using artificial intelligence to try certain game scenarios to see how a player reacts based on the data assembled. In fact, the data has allowed teams from avoiding injuries as well. Where is the device kept in the vest? The device is actually kept in a small pouch at the back of the vest. Has there been any significant impact of the vest? It has been found that data collected has persuaded many footballers to refrain from shooting at the goal from a distance as data revealed they are failing to connect the ball infrequently. “If you look at any league in the world, the distance from where players have taken shots was much higher ten years ago,” an MLS data analyst recently told the journal Nature. “That all happened because data-analytics people have started saying: ‘Why are you shooting from there? It’s only a 2% chance!’ ” Is the vest limited to football? The impact of GPS data is not just limited to football as NBA teams have recently changed their team tactics to try more 3-pointers as the data suggested that certain players have high accuracy in bagging points from it. Is the usage of the vest limited to professional players only? Catapult Sports, a company that sells the vest, brilliantly answer this question for those aspirants who just want to take their game to next level. They write: “Arguably, even more so.” Read all the Latest News ****, Trending News ****, Cricket News ****, Bollywood News ****, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook****, Twitter and Instagram****.