Player escort (also called match mascot or child mascot) is a child who accompanies a football player entering the pitch. This tradition emerged in Brazil, in the 1970s. The idea came from Ronan Ramos Oliveira, who at the time was public relations director at Clube Atlético Mineiro. On September 5, 1976, in a match between the clubs Atlético Mineiro and América Mineiro, he suggested that children go to the field with the team's players. The interesting thing here is that, at the beginning, the selected children had to be lookalikes of a player. The action was also a strategy for more families to start attending the games.^[1]

Player escorts hold hands with the footballer while they walk in and stay with the player during the playing of the national anthem. The children are usually between 6 and 18 years old. In addition to assisting players, they often have duties such as carrying flags, helping the sideline ball crew and playing matches with each other. However today there are various reasons why players walk in with children. These include promoting children's rights campaigns, bringing the element of innocence to the game, fulfilling children's dreams or making profit off it, and reminding players that children are looking up to them.^[2]