World Cup 2022: Switzerland ‘bans’ players from celebrating with Albanian eagle at World Cup

The head of Swiss Professional Football has made it clear to the country’s national team players that they must not celebrate in a way that provokes the opposition.

After the celebration with the Albanian eagle by Granite Jacka and Xherdan Shaqiri in the World Cup in Russia which caused much debate, and ahead of Switzerland’s clash with Serbia in the upcoming World Cup, in the group stage the Swiss decided to ban their players with Albanian roots from celebrating by forming the double-headed eagle.

The country’s head of football, Pierluigi Tami, has taken responsibility to ensure that no such celebration takes place in Qatar. Immediately after the draw for the World Cup groups, Tammy and the Swiss team met with the coach of the Serbian team, Dragan Stojkovic. “He told us: ‘It is our common desire that this game be all about football’Tammy said.

In May this year, its president Swiss Football Association and the general secretary, then met with their counterparts from the Football Association of Serbia. During the conversation, the Serbs reiterated that the Serbian team will only deal with football in the match to be held in Qatar. However, it is unclear whether fans and politicians will also heed what the Serbian federation officials said. “We don’t want to make the same mistakes again. We are here to play football and nothing else. We don’t want to send any political or religious message.”he insisted.

“There should be no words, no gestures and no general provocative behavior. When we cheer, it’s to show our joy, that’s important. But we must not be provocative”he emphasized.

Even in 2014, there had been a similar announcement by officials of the Swiss federation. Granit Xhaka had earlier posted a photo on Instagram where his teammates are forming the double-headed Albanian eagle with their hands. While, earlier, the midfielder had celebrated with such a gesture with the shirt of the Gladbach team. His former teammate in Switzerland, Paitim Kasami, had done it in the past in our country, when he was playing for Olympiakos.

It’s worth noting that Xhaka and Shaqiri were fined €10,000 each by UEFA for celebrating with an eagle in the win over Serbia, after the European football governing body said they breached fair play rules.