On Thursday night, Switzerland played Serbia in the World Cup with the Albanian double eagle gesture celebration being brought out at times
While this is a crucial encounter in Group G, for many of the players involved, this game signified much more. Indeed, there are other geopolitical subplots in this game involving Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka, two players on the Switzerland team who are of Albanian descent.
Female Fan Escorted Out Of Stadium For Doing The Double Eagle Gesture Celebration During Serbia vs Switzerland, Video Goes Viral
A fan escorted out of the stadium for making the Albanian eagle gesture, an innocuous gesture that simply means Albania(n).
Meanwhile, Serbia's fans are free to display messages calling for genocide in Kosovo.
Shameful. pic.twitter.com/Z6g8HTAzBN
— Admirim (@admirim) December 2, 2022
Granit Xhaka scored in #SUI 's 2-1 win over #SRB at the 2018 World Cup.
He celebrated by making a gesture mimicking the eagle on the Albanian flag & was fined £10,000, Switzerland face Serbia today and it’s set to be an interesting game. pic.twitter.com/WPPNCEA1vT
— 𝐀𝐅𝐂• 𝐃𝐘𝐍𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐘 💎 (@Gooner_Dynasty) December 2, 2022
When the two scored against Serbia in their matchup in 2018, they both performed the somewhat contentious “Albanian Eagle” celebration. What does this gesture signify, though?
What is the Albanian Eagle celebration?
This celebration’s symbolism is quite straightforward. The eagle that appears on the Albanian flag is supposed to be represented by the hands crossed with the fingers spread. The gesture is similar to the double-headed eagle on the Albanian flag and is also connected to the ethnicity of Albanians, who refer to themselves as “Shqiptar” (son of the eagle) and their nation as “Shqipri” (land of eagles).
But why do Swiss athletes celebrate by flashing an Albanian flag? Well, ethnically-Albanian regions of the former Yugoslavia were repressed at the time by the Serbian populace, and players like Shaqiri and Xhaka were born there. During this time, over a million Kosovars and Albanians, including the families of Xhaka and Shaqiri who emigrated to Switzerland, were forced from their homes.
Although Shaqiri and Xhaka grew up playing for the Swiss squad, their ties to Albania and Kosovo have always been a part of who they are. In 2018, they made sure to demonstrate this to the Serbians.
To prevent any political propaganda at the World Cup, FIFA fined both Xhaka and Shaqiri for their celebrations in 2018. However, it is unclear whether or not that punishment will prevent any Swiss players from celebrating in this manner this year.
Switzerland defeats Serbia in a high-voltage match.
Before Aleksandar Mitrovic, Serbia’s all-time leading scorer equalises, Xherdan Shaqiri scored the game’s opening goal for the Swiss. The Serbs promptly took the lead thanks to another elite attacker, Dusan Vlahovic, but Switzerland quickly equalised. Breel Embolo tied the score at 2-2 just before halftime. Remo Freuler finished a fantastic team play in the 48th minute to give the Swiss the lead and the game finished at a scoreline of 3-2.