Granit Xhaka will captain Switzerland again next month after the Swiss Football Association (SFV) reinstated him and Breel Embolo on Tuesday, closing the forged Covid-19 certificate case that cost both men four Nations League matches.
The SFV confirmed that Xhaka and Embolo will once again be considered for selection from November, after what it called a comprehensive examination of both cases. With the legal proceedings complete and the sporting punishment already served, the federation judged the return of both players justifiable, as Reuters reported.
Four matches missed for a pandemic mistake
Xhaka, 34, admitted acquiring a forged vaccination certificate in 2022 so that he could travel and compete during the Covid crisis. He was placed on two years’ probation and given a suspended fine of 150,000 Swiss francs, and he apologised for what he called a mistake. Embolo, the 29-year-old Atlanta United forward, was dropped later in September after acknowledging that a penal order against him also concerned fake certificates; he received the same suspended fine.
The pair missed Switzerland’s first four Nations League matches in September and October. It made little difference to the results: the Swiss, World Cup quarter-finalists this summer, have won all four games and top their group on 12 points, five clear of second-placed Slovenia.
The armband never really left
The most striking part of Tuesday’s announcement is what did not change. Head coach Murat Yakin, his staff and the players’ council were unanimous that Xhaka should remain captain, according to Sportsnet, so the Sunderland midfielder returns not as a player on probation with his country, but as its leader. National team director Pierluigi Tami said the federation was convinced a November return was “both responsible and the right course of action”, while Yakin welcomed being able to make his selections without restrictions again.
Xhaka holds the Swiss record with 152 caps, and his club form has given Yakin no reason to look elsewhere. He has been a central figure for Sunderland this season, captaining the side in the Premier League, most recently in the goalless draw in which James Trafford denied Brian Brobbey — a fixture for which Leeds had their own injury doubts. Embolo, meanwhile, offers the penalty-box presence Switzerland lacked in the autumn, even as the team kept winning without him.
So what it means for November
Yakin names his squad on 5 November, and both players are on the shortlist. Switzerland travel to Slovenia on 13 November and host Scotland in St Gallen three days later, knowing one more win would seal top spot and promotion back to the Nations League’s top tier. The harder question is reputational: every press conference in that window will revisit the certificates, and Xhaka will have to front it as captain rather than hide behind the armband.
Beyond the Final Whistle verdict: Switzerland have handled this the grown-up way — a real punishment, served in full, followed by a return with no quiet demotion attached. A federation that believed its captain had forfeited the armband should have taken it; one that takes him back as captain has decided the mistake, however serious, does not define 152 caps of service. Do you agree that Xhaka should keep the armband, or should the captaincy have gone for good?
