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Xherdan Shaqiri caught in Kosovo political incident

Lyon attacking midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri has been caught up in controversy relating to an independence dispute involving Kosovo.

On Saturday evening, whilst Shaqiri was giving his post-match analysis of Switzerland’s 2-0 victory over Northern Ireland to broadcaster RSI, a man came out of nowhere to put a jacket on him. This jacket had the UCK logo, the UCK being the Kosovo Liberation Army.

Shaqiri was born in ex-Yugoslavia, in Zhegër, which is currently part of Kosovo. The Swiss FA responded angrily to this event occurring on the pitch:

“It is unacceptable that people want to use football stadia, in this case during a post-match interview of a player after a match, for political propaganda. Xherdan Shaqiri responded in exemplary fashion, and remained calm and did not react. The man was questioned by police and was immediately given a stadium ban.”

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