Seems nobody knows the answer. I don't recall seeing women footballers spitting on the pitch, or tennnis players on the court, yet those sports still take physical exertions.
Remember when Sergio Garcia picked his ball up and gobbed in the hole he'd just bogeyed - there was uproar. Male...
I guess thats what the players would say.
Imagine if squash or basketball players were similarly afflicted. They'd soon be slipping and sliding all over the place.
Why DO players spit, exactly ?
I'm perfectly capable of going for a walk or run without hacking up a huge grolly and flobbing it out on the path every fifty yards or so. So why do footballers constantly feel the need to deposit their sputum all over the pitch ? Its always baffled me.