{"id":266508,"date":"2026-10-08T20:29:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T20:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/08\/gripped-by-anxiety-swiss-great-learns-fate-for-covid-vaccine-mistake\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T20:29:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T20:29:00","slug":"gripped-by-anxiety-swiss-great-learns-fate-for-covid-vaccine-mistake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/08\/gripped-by-anxiety-swiss-great-learns-fate-for-covid-vaccine-mistake\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Gripped by anxiety\u2019: Swiss great learns fate for Covid vaccine \u2018mistake\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Switzerland captain Granit Xhaka has been fined 150,000 Swiss francs (AUS$260,000) after admitting using a forged Covid vaccine certificate during the pandemic when he played for Arsenal.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old Sunderland skipper will not have to pay the fine provided he commits no further offences during a two-year probationary period.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was sentenced by summary judgment for obtaining a false certification to a suspended fine of 50 daily rates of 3,000 Swiss francs each with a two-year probationary period,\u201d he wrote in German on Instagram.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI accept the decision and take responsibility for my actions. Thank you for the many messages of support over the past few weeks. They mean a lot to me.\u201d <\/p>\n

Xhaka was playing for Arsenal at the time in 2022 before moving to Bayern Leverkusen the following year and joining Sunderland in 2025.<\/p>\n

Switzerland\u2019s most capped player with 152 appearances, Xhaka withdrew from their Nations League matches against Scotland, North Macedonia and Slovenia in the recent international break.<\/p>\n

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<p>A fan of Switzerland midfielder Granit Xhaka holds up a banner in the crowd ahead of the UEFA Nations League match between Scotland and Switzerland. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN \/ AFP)<\/p><\/span>Source: AFP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Monday, Xhaka admitted that he had presented a forged certificate to avoid mandatory vaccination during the Covid crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time, I was very worried about the issue of Covid-19 vaccination \u2026 I felt deep mistrust regarding the vaccine and was gripped by anxiety and doubt,\u201d he said on Instagram.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday I clearly see that I made the wrong choice. It was a mistake. I am sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Xhaka added that he was \u201ccooperating fully with the relevant authorities\u201d.<\/p>\n

Switzerland are subsequently set to face Slovenia on November 13 and Scotland on November 16, also as part of the Nations League.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Switzerland captain Granit Xhaka has been fined 150,000 Swiss francs (AUS$260,000) after admitting using a forged Covid vaccine certificate during the pandemic when he played for Arsenal. The 34-year-old Sunderland skipper will not have to pay the fine provided he commits no further offences during a two-year probationary period. \u201cI was sentenced by summary judgment […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":266509,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[156],"class_list":{"0":"post-266508","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}