Swiss national team Granit Xhaka and Ricardo Rodriguez before the start of the World Cup, they once again attracted attention with the gesture of the double-headed eagle, a symbol associated with Albania. The video was made in the USA, during a baseball game between the San Diego Padres and the New York Mets.
During the match, the Swiss national team players were shown on the big screen, Xhaka and Rodriguez can also be seen in the video with crossed palms in the shape of a double-headed eagle. The gesture has a long history of controversy in football. The most resounding was at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, when Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri celebrated the goal against Serbia with her. Fifa punished both with a warning and a fine of 10,000 Swiss francs for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The double-headed eagle is on the Albanian flag, so part of the fans understand it as an expression of Albanian identity, and in Serbia, due to the political tensions around Kosovo, it often has a provocative tone. Xhaka, the long-time captain of Switzerland, has Kosovar Albanian roots, much like Shaqiri, who was also at the center of events in 2018.
The new move comes at a time when Switzerland is preparing for the World Cup. One of the matches that will be particularly interesting for fans from the region will be the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 18 in Los Angeles.
