Granit Xhaka Under Investigation for Alleged Forged Covid Certificate
Granit Xhaka, captain of Switzerland and the country’s record appearance holder, is under criminal investigation in his homeland over allegations he obtained a forged Covid-19 vaccination certificate.
Prosecutors in Lucerne confirmed they have opened proceedings to examine whether the 33-year-old Sunderland midfielder, who was playing for Arsenal at the time of the alleged offence in 2022, acquired a “false or forged” certificate in order to meet travel requirements.
The case centres on a period when Switzerland did not impose a blanket legal obligation to hold a Covid certificate, but did make it a condition for access to certain venues, activities and international travel. Those rules, which effectively limited participation for anyone without the document, remained in place until spring 2022, with certificates still issued afterwards mainly to satisfy foreign entry regulations.
Xhaka addressed the allegations in a candid statement on social media on Monday, admitting he had chosen the wrong path.
He wrote that he had harboured “mistrust” towards the vaccine and had been “influenced by worries and uncertainty”. In that mindset, he said, he “acquired a vaccine certificate, instead of clarifying my unanswered questions in the proper way”.
“Today I see clearly, that this way was not correct. It was a mistake. I’m sorry,” Xhaka added, stressing that he accepts responsibility, will “engage with the process of establishing the facts” and will fully co-operate with the authorities.
The Swiss Football Association reacted swiftly. Xhaka, capped 152 times, has withdrawn from the national team camp ahead of their upcoming Nations League fixtures against Scotland, North Macedonia and Slovenia.
The federation said the decision was taken jointly by the player and the national team management, and confirmed that Xhaka’s future role with Switzerland will be discussed only after the current international window.
Murat Yakin’s side face away trips to North Macedonia and Scotland on 26 and 29 September, before hosting Slovenia and North Macedonia in early October. They will do so without the man who has been their emotional and tactical reference point for the best part of a decade.
At club level, Sunderland head coach Regis le Bris kept his distance from the storm when asked after the Black Cats’ defeat at Manchester City on Sunday.
“It is not my area to speak about those problems or situations,” he said, limiting his comments strictly to football. “My area is football. About football, he is really good.”
Xhaka, who captained Switzerland at the World Cup earlier this year before their quarter-final exit to eventual runners-up Argentina, now finds his international future and public standing tested in a very different arena — a courtroom rather than a stadium.
