Debate about fake vaccination certificates shakes Swiss professional sports

Six and a half years ago, the coronavirus brought all sports to a standstill. The pandemic seems forgotten and repressed in many places today. In Switzerland, however, it is currently returning to the public debate with force. After revelations about national soccer players Granit

Particularly in the Xhaka and Embolo cases, ideas about appropriate consequences vary widely. The allegations against national team captain Xhaka became known through a report in the tabloid “Blick”. The Lucerne public prosecutor's office is investigating him and a doctor. Among other things, this is said to have issued a vaccination certificate for Xhaka without vaccinating. The Sunderland professional initially let it be known that he had been vaccinated. Three days later, Xhaka admitted that he had bought a certificate in spring 2022. Xhaka and the Swiss Football Association agreed that the captain would not play the four games of the current international phase.

Just one day before the first game against North Macedonia, the association announced that Embolo would not be joining the national team either. There was a press conference in Skopje at which Swiss national coach Murat Yakin said at one point: “By the way, we have a game tomorrow.” The Football Association confirmed that it had been informed by Embolo three days before the game that he had been convicted of inciting forgery. However, the decision not to let Embolo join the team only came after the CH Media Group made the punishment public. Previous research suggested that Embolo bought two corona test certificates in 2021 through a member of the Hells Angels. The agent has now been convicted by two courts of fraud and sexual offenses.

Observers agree that the football association cut an extremely poor figure with Embolo. “At the media conference you had the feeling that the only one who was surprised was the football association,” said Swiss television commentator Sascha Ruefer. Also causing a shake of the head was the association spokesman in Skopje stating that Embolo had not informed the association after the conviction in 2025, but “to what extent does a player have to inform us about a private matter”?

But that's where the consensus in the assessment ends. The former national player and current co-commentator Benjamin Huggel complained via Whatsapp to the Zurich “Tages-Anzeiger” after it published a comment that Xhaka was no longer acceptable as captain. "It is said that Xhaka is no longer suitable as a role model. I always ask myself: role model for whom?" said Huggel. Swiss football journalists also argue about this question. Some demand that national players should set a good example. Others see the Xhaka and Embolo cases as just the tip of the iceberg in a business in which lies and cheating occur every day.

Patrick Fischer also spoke in the most recent debate. In April, the then coach of the national ice hockey team was fired after admitting that he traveled to the Beijing Olympics in 2022 with a fake vaccination certificate. "I'm sorry for Granit. I understand his reasons," said Fischer, after Xhaka emphasized in his statement: "I felt deep mistrust of the vaccine." Initially, it was stated in the debate that the Fischer case was more serious because he ignored compulsory vaccination. However, “Tages-Anzeiger” has now reported that Xhaka is said to have used the certificate for a trip to the USA with his then club Arsenal London. Xhaka himself has not yet commented on this.

Opponents of the Corona measures in Swiss politics also speak out. The youth organization of the national conservative Swiss People's Party (SVP) launched a petition calling for impunity for people who bought vaccination certificates during the pandemic. The deployment of the SVP also means a shift because it was precisely SVP politicians who criticized Xhaka, who is of Kosovo origin, for showing the double-headed eagle symbol in the 2018 World Cup game against Serbia. “No, that wasn’t a harmless greeting,” wrote “Weltwoche” editor-in-chief Roger Köppel, who was also an SVP MP at the time. Today Köppel says in his video podcast: “Leave Xhaka alone!”

But the debate could soon take a different direction. The Swiss impressed without Xhaka in the two games against North Macedonia and Scotland. The “Nati” won both games 3-0. In Skopje she shot at the opponent's goal 17 times in the first half alone. Of the 732 Swiss passports, 688 arrived in Glasgow. If the team also impresses on Saturday against Slovenia and again on Tuesday against North Macedonia, coach Yakin will likely hear the question more often as to whether he should really rely on Xhaka, who will then be almost 36 years old, at the 2028 European Championship. Ardon Jashari from AC Milan has so far represented him well as a ball distributor. The offensive artist and former Freiburg professional Johan Manzambi is considered the new star of the “Nati”.