The swiss national team captain Granit Xhasa has withdrawn from the Switzerland squad after admitting to obtaining a forged COVID-19 vaccination certificate in 2022. This was while he still played for Arsenal.
Over his statement on Instagram, the player admits this action of his was a “mistake.” He goes further to say:
In connection with the Covid-19 vaccination, I was personally very unsettled at the time and had serious concerns. I felt deep mistrust toward the vaccine and was driven by fear and uncertainty
Why Xhasa acquired a fake certificate
Recall that in 2021-2022, while the COVID-19 pandemic raged all over the world, it became highly necessary for countries and sports leagues to request proof of vaccination from players. Basically, for a player to travel during international matches for national duty, or to gain entry into stadiums and/or training facilities, or to avoid keeping his team out of competition he had to have himself vaccinated.
For Xhasa specifically, playing in the English Premier League while also being part of the Swiss national team, cross-border travel rules would have made vaccination status especially relevant. Many countries barred unvaccinated travellers or required lengthy quarantines. And the times being what they were then, there were consp myiracy theories about the vaccine which led people, like Xhasa, to become suspicious of the vaccine. So he acquired a falsified certificate to pass himself off as vaccinated.
The SFV on Xhasa’s absence
The Swiss Football Association (SFV) has confirmed in a statement that the 33-year-old midfielder will miss out on the upcoming training camp of the men’s national team. The SFV president Peter Knäbel says:
We welcome Granit taking this step and facing the consequences. At the same time, we jointly concluded that it is in the team’s best interest to complete this training camp without him. Our priority now is to calm the situation and focus entirely on the team and the upcoming challenges in the UEFA Nations League
The SFV also reports that owing to Xhasa’s absence, and that of Aurèle Amenda and Denis Zakaria due injury, Isaac Schmidt, Vincent Sierro and Joël Monteiro have been called up to replace them.
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