Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri's celebration against Serbia explained - and why Switzerland pair face bans

Sunday, 24th June 2018, 10:13 am
Updated Friday, 6th September 2019, 8:42 pm
Granit Xhaka (left) and Xherdan Shaqiri's goals helped Switzerland come back from behind to beat Serbia 2-1 in World Cup Group E (Getty Images)

Switzerland midfielders Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri face the prospect of two-match bans after controversial goal celebrations during their country's win over Serbia in the World Cup on Friday night.


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Their goals - one a long range effort from Xhaka and the other a last gasp winner from Shaqiri - helped Switzerland come from behind to win 2-1 following Aleksandar Mitrovic's early goal.



According to the BBC, Fifa plans to speak to "expert witnesses" who will decide whether the celebration was related to the "nationalist-supported notion of a Greater Albania".

In a statement on Saturday, the governing body also announced it was investigating Serbia manager Mladen Krstajic for alleged comments after the match as well as the country's FA following crowd disturbances.

Fifa did not specify what comments it was looking into but Krstajic did tell Serbian reporters after the game, in reference to referee Felix Brych: "I wouldn't give him either a yellow or red card, I would send him to The Hague. Then they could put him on trial, like they did to us."



Second-generation immigrants from the Balkans have played a huge part in transforming the Swiss national side over the past decade - with Xhaka, Shaqiri and Valon Behrami all being mainstays in the team.


Xhaka, whose father was a political prisoner in the former Yugoslavia, backed Kosovo's ultimately successful campaign for Fifa membership and at one point contemplated playing for them before pledging his allegiance to Switzerland.



“You should never mix politics and football," Switzerland’s coach, Vladimir Petkovic, who was born in Serbia's neighbouring state Bosnia and Herzegovina, said after the game.


There was also a mixed reaction in the Swiss media.

"Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka have talented feet like no one else in this national team. But their political sensitivity and social awareness left much to be desired," said the Neue Zuercher Zeitung (NZZ).

The tabloid Blick took a similar line. "Xhaka and Shaqiri played with real heart but forgot to keep cool heads when they celebrated, and that is the big flaw of this wonderfully stirring evening."

Papers in Serbia described the celebrations as a "shameful provocation".

What Xhaka and Shaqiri say





Fifa rules

Fifa has a ban on players wearing any item of clothing with political symbols or statements on it - and can hand out sanctions to teams if it feels its rules have been breached.

As Law in Sport explains:



The world governing body's rules around gestures are slightly less clear, but there are precedents.
