Overview
- Xhaka publicly said he obtained a falsified COVID-19 vaccination certificate from 2022, accepted responsibility and offered to cooperate with investigators.
- The Cantonal Prosecutor's Office in Lucerne has opened a judicial inquiry into whether the document constitutes fraud or falsification of official papers.
- By mutual agreement with the Swiss Football Association Xhaka will miss Switzerland’s UEFA Nations League concentration and the four fixtures in the current international window.
- Swiss law allows penalties of up to five years for certain document-falsification offences but legal commentators and media say a custodial sentence is regarded as unlikely at this stage.
- The case is connected to a wider 2023 probe of a Lucerne doctor whose practice was searched and whose records included multiple certificates, and Xhaka is expected to be questioned by prosecutors after the international fixtures end.