A long-running legal cloud has finally lifted for Granit Xhaka, with the Swiss midfielder accepting a suspended financial penalty over fraudulent Covid-19 certificates obtained in 2022.
A suspended penalty over 2022 certificates
Xhaka had faced a possible prison sentence of up to five years in Switzerland. Instead, a penal order has imposed a suspended fine of 50 daily rates, each set at 3,000 Swiss francs.
- The total penalty is 150,000 Swiss francs, valued at roughly €160,000.
- The fine is suspended for a two-year probation period.
- Xhaka will not have to pay the amount provided he commits no further offence during those two years.
- The conviction concerns the fraudulent acquisition of official documents linked to false Covid-19 certificates.
The Switzerland captain confirmed the outcome himself, saying he had been convicted for fraudulently obtaining an authentic document under a penal order.
Xhaka accepts responsibility
The midfielder had missed Switzerland’s most recent international gathering while the case in his home country was unresolved. Now, he has publicly accepted the ruling.
“I accept this decision and take responsibility for it,” Xhaka said. “Thank you for the many messages of support I have received in recent weeks. They mean a great deal to me.”
A senior figure for Switzerland
Of Kosovan heritage, Xhaka left Basel in 2012 and built a career across several major European leagues before becoming one of the leading voices in the Swiss national team.
- He played in Germany for Borussia Mönchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen.
- In England, he represented Arsenal and Sunderland.
- He has since established himself as a central figure for Switzerland, who reached the quarter-finals of the most recent World Cup.
