Ademola Olajade Lookman (Atalanta) is a striker for Atalanta and the Nigerian national team, who arrived in Bergamo this summer from Leicester. His impact with Serie A has been really good, as the player has already scored six goals in 13 appearances.
His surname, Lookman, literally means ‘man who looks’ and, in homage to this meaning, the footballer has developed a rather iconic jubilation to celebrate each goal. Hands forming a circle with thumb and forefinger resting on his eyes, Lookman ‘looks around’, as if wearing a pair of glasses or binoculars. A seemingly innocuous gesture, very ironic, based precisely on the pun generated by his surname. Despite this, Lookman’s exultation did not please referee Doveri, who, during Udinese Atalanta a few weeks ago, considered his gesture offensive towards the opposing fans.
Cheering without exaggerating
The referee’s interpretation was based on Article 12 of the 2022 edition of the Rules of the Game of Football, which considers a player liable to a caution if he makes gestures or acts in a provocative or derisive manner while celebrating the scoring of a goal. This was clearly not Lookman’s intention, but the referee interpreted it as such.
It is interesting to read the introduction to this same article, in its most recent wording, to better understand how celebration after a goal is understood by the Rules:
Players may celebrate the scoring of a goal, but such celebration must not be excessive; choreographed celebrations must not be encouraged and must not cause excessive time wasting. Leaving the field of play to celebrate a goal is not in itself a cautionable offence, but players must return to the field of play as quickly as possible.
Still on the subject of jubilation, Olivier Giroud’s (AC Milan) ejection after his great volley goal at the end of the game against Spezia also made headlines. A crucial goal, which gave Milan the victory and which the French player celebrated by taking off his shirt.
The same article 12 of the 2022 edition of the Rules of the Game of Football sanctions with a caution a player who takes off his shirt or covers his head with his shirt.
In Giroud’s case, as the Frenchman had previously been cautioned so the jubilation even costed him an expulsion (and a subsequent one-match suspension).
When jubilation becomes icon?
Beyond what is stated in the rules, jubilation has always been an iconic moment in the game of football and it is not always easy to define what is, concretely, an ‘excessive’ celebration. Some players have managed, over time, to create unforgettable jubilations, so much so that they have been taken up by globally successful video games such as EA FIFA (we talked about the world of e-sports in this post).
The list of jubilations that have made history, in their own way, is potentially endless, but we would like to try and remember some of them.
It seems that the ‘machine gunfire’, Gabriel Batistuta‘s iconic celebration, began as a joke with his masseur who, in his Fiorentina days, told him: ‘If you score, you shoot me’. No sooner said than done, on 20 September 1998, after a great goal against Vicenza, the player mimicked a machine gun with his hands for the first time. An almost childish gesture, but one that carried with it all the grit and personality that such an extraordinary striker was able to bring to all the teams in which he played.
Staying in Italy, Bari’s ‘little train’ made history. We are in the early 1990s and the Bari players after each goal staged a real choreography, advancing on all fours one behind the other, mimicking a train that, like Bari in those years, ran really fast.
On the other hand, there are jubilations that sometimes created more problems than joys.
Suffice it to think of Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler, who, in 1999, after a goal scored against rivals Everton, ran to the back line mimicking the gesture of someone snorting cocaine. In that case the English FA did not take it well at all and the player was fined and suspended for six matches.
And what about Paul Gascoigne in the 1996 European Championships? After a great goal against Scotland, Gazza lay on the ground and three teammates sprayed water from their water bottles into his mouth. A mockery linked to some less than edifying photos that ended up in the newspapers during the England team’s tour, organised in Hong Kong in preparation for the Europeans.
Major international competitions are the perfect stage for jubilations destined to remain in the memory.
This is well known by the Cameroonian lion Roger Milla, whose Makossa-timed dances made him an icon of African football during the Italia ’90 World Cup.
And how can we not mention Bebeto? The Brazilian number 7, who recently became a father, exulted after a goal against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals of the USA ’94 World Cup, mimicking the cradle gesture. A big smile on his face and a run with his arms mimicking the rocking motion with which babies are cradled. Immediately Romario and Mazinho also joined in his jubilation, making the whole scene legendary.
Another resonant goal celebration at an international competition was the one of the Spanish footballer Andres Iniesta after scoring the goal which brought Spain victory in the final of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. In his celebration he took out his shirt to reveal a shirt with the message `Dani Jarque, Siempre con Nosotros’ (`Dani Jarque, Always with Us’); a tribute to Espanyol defender Dani Jarque, whose sudden death from a heart attack in the field of play in 2009 shocked the world of football.
Staying in Spain, there is no doubt that Antoine Griezmann (Atletico de Madrid) is famous for his talent, but also because of his memorable goal celebrations in the form of a dance, inspired by the popular music star Drake and his music video ‘Hotline Bling’.
How can also we forget Cristiano Ronaldo‘s jubilation, which has now entered the common imagination: the Portuguese superstar is famous for his characteristic leap into the air and his spinning move accompanied by the cry ‘Siiiii!’, mispronounced in a sort of SIUUU.
And then again the long knee-slides of Drogba, the balls under the shirts in celebration of a recent birth, the somersaults of Oba Oba Martins and Miroslav Klose, the finger on the mouth to “silence” the Camp Nou in 1999 by Raúl Gonzalez Blanco of Real Madrid and many others.
In short, years pass, regulations change, but in football, jubilation has always been part of the spectacle, for better or worse.
Trade mark registration as a form of protection for special jubilations?
With the revolution triggered by the internet and social media, jubilation can go viral in no time.
All it takes is a video on TikTok, accompanied by trending music, and a footballer can find himself thousands (sometimes millions) of views. That is why in some cases an interest may arise, on the part of the footballer himself or those who own his image rights, to seek some form of protection and, if possible, to capitalise on this popularity.
Gestures that arise as spontaneous, on the wave of adrenaline that a goal can unleash, can therefore acquire a commercial value, a value that can be developed, licensed and sold. In this post, we analysed the entry of NTFs into sport. Just as with tokens, a cheer could in the future become a ‘non-fungible’ object and acquire a definite economic value.
Jubilations can become part of the footballer-brand and fall under the brand protection, something that some superstars have already carried out.
Through registration, the proprietor obtains an exclusive right, in the territory where the said trademark is registered, to prevent any third party, without his consent, from using the same sign in the course of trade for the same goods and/or services as those for which the trademark is registered.
This is the case, for instance of Kylian Mbappé, who registered before the European Union Intellectual Property Office his iconic celebration (EUTM 018025774) and one of his most remembered quotes “Moi tu m’parles pas d’âge”.
A pioneer in this regard was Gareth Bale in 2013. During his time at Tottenham, starting in the 10s, the Welsh player began to exult by joining his fingers together to form a heart. A simple, spontaneous gesture, addressed to his girlfriend. In 2013, he applied for registration of the trademark ‘eleven earths’, in which, in addition to his fingers, his shirt number was also present: 11. According to documents filed with the UK Intellectual Property Office, the logo was intended to appear on ‘clothing, footwear and headgear’, as well as other products.
As such, let us recall that a trademark is above all a sign used in commerce to identify services or/and products to distinguish from those of the competitors. The trademark can take various forms. It can be a verbal, figurative, verbal and figurative and even sound, movement or multimedia mark.
This particularity is very useful when considering to register a “jubilation”.
Although not strictly related to jubilations, a more complex affair concerned Lionel Messi.
In 2011, the Argentinean footballer applied to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to register as a European Union trademark a figurative sign that contained his initial and the extended word MESSI. The registration was opposed by the Spanish company J.M.-E.V. and hijos, which considered that there could be a likelihood of confusion with the registered trademark MASSI, which was related to their clothing and footwear company.
In 2013, the EUIPO upheld this opposition and rejected the footballer’s appeal the following year. At this point, Messi applied to the General Court of the European Union to have this decision annulled. The annulment was established in a 2018 judgment, based on the principle that the footballer’s notoriety was sufficient to exclude any likelihood of confusion, even if there were visual and phonetic similarities between the two signs. At this point, EQUIPO and the Spanish company J.M.-E.V. and hijos appealed the judgment before the Court of Justice of the European Union, which, however, rejected both appeals in 2020.
In essence, therefore, the Messi trademark can be registered. The Court’s ruling echoes what the General Court had held, reaffirming the principle that Lionel Messi is known not only to football fans, but by the majority of reasonably informed people accessing the media, and that there is therefore no likelihood of confusion with the Massi trademark.
We have come to the conclusion of this post, in which, starting with some of the most famous jubilations, we addressed the topic of trademark registration by famous football players and the economic and legal consequences that can result. A highly topical subject that may require specialized consulting services such as those offered by our firm.
