Xhaka faces legal case as Swiss captaincy comes under review

Swiss national football captain Granit Xhaka has admitted buying a forged Covid certificate and will face authorities over alleged document forgery, SRF reports. He is set to miss four national-team matches, while the Swiss Football Association will review his future after the upcoming international window.

The case was uncovered by Blick. Xhaka addressed it in a statement on Instagram, citing major uncertainty surrounding Covid vaccination.

If he cooperates fully with the authorities, he is likely to face a fine, according to SRF sports editor Peter Schnyder.

The case has also raised questions over whether Xhaka can retain the captaincy. The football association said it would reassess the situation with him after the next international window and discuss how to proceed.

There are currently no strong legal grounds to suspend Xhaka, Schnyder said. Whether he should remain captain is therefore primarily a moral question, given that he has admitted to document forgery.

The affair is the second recent sports scandal in Switzerland involving forged Covid certificates. Former national ice hockey coach Patrick Fischer used a fake certificate to obtain participation in the Olympic Games. The two cases are not directly comparable, however, because Xhaka does not appear to have gained a sporting advantage.

One possible issue concerns his entry to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. But Qatari authorities had relaxed the rules shortly before the tournament began on November 1, 2022, meaning neither a Covid test nor proof of vaccination was required for entry. Depending on the source, Xhakas second vaccination listed on the forged certificate took place on November 8 or 11, after the tournament had started.