Granit Xhaka admits fake Covid certificate, exits Switzerland squad

Granit Xhaka has admitted obtaining a fake Covid vaccination certificate in 2022 and has withdrawn from the Switzerland squad. The Sunderland and Switzerland captain, who was an Arsenal player at the time, apologised for what he called a mistake and will sit out his country’s four Nations League matches.

The admission, made on Monday, followed weekend reports in Swiss media that the 33-year-old was suspected of obtaining a fake vaccination certificate in 2022 from a doctor under investigation by prosecutors in Lucerne. Xhaka will be questioned by the prosecutor’s office in that city next week as it decides whether any criminal proceedings will be initiated over the alleged issue of a series of false Covid certificates during the pandemic. The doctor, who was first investigated in 2023, has denied the allegations.

In a statement issued via Instagram, Xhaka acknowledged that he had decided not to be inoculated against the virus and set out the fear that shaped his decision. “In recent days there has been much reporting about a matter from my past. I would like to address this personally,” he wrote. “At the time, I was personally very uncertain and had serious concerns regarding the Covid-19 vaccination. I felt deep distrust of the vaccine and was plagued by fear and uncertainty.”

He went on to accept responsibility and offered his co-operation. “In this turbulent emotional state, I obtained a vaccination certificate instead of clarifying my open questions through the proper channels. Today I clearly see this was not the right course of action. It was a mistake. I am sorry. I take responsibility for this decision, am committed to investigating the matter and am co-operating with the relevant authorities,” he wrote.

Xhaka tested positive for Covid in September 2022 and did not feature in Switzerland’s internationals that month. He turns 34 on Sunday. A spokesperson for the Lucerne Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office said the aim of the inquiries was “to clarify whether there has been conduct relevant under criminal law in connection with the possible fraudulent obtaining of a false certification and/or document forgery”. Should charges be brought, Xhaka could face a heavy fine or, theoretically, a five-year prison sentence. The imposition of the latter sanction, or any sort of custodial punishment, is understood to be extremely unlikely. No finding of guilt has been made beyond his own admission.

The Swiss Football Association met the player and the two sides agreed a four-match suspension, to be served while he is on international duty. Peter Knäbel, the federation president, said it welcomed Xhaka taking responsibility in order to clarify the matter fully. “At the same time, we have agreed together that it’s in the team’s best interest to play these matches without him,” Knäbel said. He added that the situation would be reassessed with Xhaka at the end of this international window, and told reporters at the Swiss training camp in Turkey that there had been no discussion of the player giving up the captaincy.

Switzerland, a World Cup quarter-finalist, sit in Group 1 of League B and will travel to face North Macedonia on 26 September and Scotland on 29 September before hosting Slovenia on 3 October and North Macedonia again on 6 October, with both home fixtures due to be staged in Lucerne. Xhaka will miss all four games, leaving the squad without its captain and its most experienced player for a demanding run of fixtures in the second tier. The away trip to Scotland is the pick of the four for many neutrals, though the Swiss will travel without the man who usually sets their tempo in midfield.

Xhaka, who has been capped 152 times by Switzerland, was with Arsenal in 2022. He left north London to join Bayer Leverkusen in 2023 and arrived at the Stadium of Light two years later. Sunderland have told the Guardian they are not commenting on the matter, given that the certificate was obtained while he was an Arsenal player. Knäbel declined to draw a comparison with Patrick Fischer, the former Switzerland men’s ice hockey coach who was fired this year after reports that he obtained a fake vaccination certificate to travel to China for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, where Chinese authorities required vaccination or a three-week quarantine. That was a requirement to attend the Games, Knäbel said, while Swiss football authorities had only recommended that players be vaccinated during the pandemic.

For Xhaka, the immediate focus is the meeting with investigators in Lucerne and the co-operation he has promised. The episode has already cost him this international window, with the federation pledging to reassess his position once it is over. Knäbel’s remarks in Turkey suggested the captaincy itself is not currently part of that conversation, but the wider picture will be revisited as soon as the four matches are done.