Translated by Ollie Richardson
14:30:29
24/06/2018
vz.ru
Fans of the national team of Switzerland refused to celebrate the victory of the team over Serbia because of the behavior on the field of the Swiss football players Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri, because of which FIFA has opened an investigation.
“After the match, the player who scored a goal made a gesture with his fingers. A bird. To the stranger it is unclear, but it is a symbol of an eagle. The eagle on the Albanian flag. And they were played against Serbians. They recently had a terrible war. Quick, but terrible. Very cruel,” said the blogger Olga Staseva on Facebook.
“This player is Albanian, but plays for the Swiss. (…) Our Swiss [after the gesture made by the player] fell silent in amazement. They were struck dumb. We watched football in the big yard. There were many people … joy, laughter, and then suddenly silence,” she said.
According to Staseva, after this some Swiss fans started to take off their shirts bearing the flag of their country and tossed it away. The blogger cites the words of fans: “I won’t support this team anymore, it is not the Swiss team”, “Let Albania play here. Such a team isn’t needed by us. It’s a shame”, “Well why did he provoke them? And especially with the politics of this war?,” “This is shameful. For the whole world”.
She added that the Swiss are good people, and the players that performed the provocative gestures “will find a home”. “They (the fans of the national team of Switzerland) have rejected this team and the victory. (…) It became shameful for them. Although they have nothing to do with it,” added Staseva.
On Sunday it was reported that the disciplinary committee of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) launched an investigation concerning the Swiss football players of Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri because of the gestures they made after scoring goals during the match against Serbia.
Xhaka and Shaqiri crossed their palms with their thumbs facing upwards in the form of a two-headed eagle from the flag of Albania, which FIFA perceived to be a political gesture.
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