It is used the world over by anxious and celebrating football players and fans alike, but members of the Scottish parliament want to banish the sign of the cross from football grounds across the country.
Under controversial proposals designed to tackle sectarianism north of the border, MSPs are advising police to crack down on the religious gesture when it is used "provocatively" by players or fans to rile opponents.
It is a particular issue in the west of Scotland where support for the two main football teams is generally polarised along religious lines, with Roman Catholics supporting Celtic and Protestants supporting Rangers.
An all-party report prepared for the Scottish first minister, Jack McConnell, states: "The sign of the cross itself is an expression of the Roman Catholic faith. However using it to alarm, upset or provoke others might be a breach of the peace in common law."
But the tradition of players blessing themselves before taking a penalty kick or after scoring a goal is as much a part of the global football tradition as insulting the referee, and a spokesman for the Catholic church in Scotland yesterday described the idea of a clampdown as absurd.
The spokesman said the church would not tolerate anyone being prosecuted for using it. He added: "These proposals strike at the heart of people's religious beliefs. It is as ridiculous as saying a Muslim should not be allowed to take out his prayer mat in Israel.
"One fan going up to the other and saying your team is rubbish is also provocative and no one is proposing prosecution there."
Donald Gorrie, a Liberal Democrat MSP who is on the working group that is looking at making sectarian crime an aggravated offence, said there was no intention to ban the gesture, but it should be up to the courts to decide whether someone had been deliberately provocative.