New Arsenal defender Stephan Lichtsteiner has been charged by FIFA for a similar goal celebration to that of Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka during their 2-1 against Serbia on Friday.
The 34-year-old could face a two match ban alongside his teammates after they formed an Eagle with their hands – the symbol of the Albanian flag.
Both Shaqiri and Xhaka have Albanian or Kosovan roots and consequently have a difficult relationship with Serbia who do not accept Kosovo as a nation.
A statement via the Richard Conway said: “The FIFA Disciplinary Committe has opened disciplinary proceedings against the Swiss player Stephan Lichtsteiner for a goal celebration during the match Switzerland vs Serbia. In relation to the same match, disciplinary proceedings have been opened against the President of the Serbian FA Slavisa Kokeza as well as the national coach Mladen Krstajic for statements made in the aftermath of the said match.
The Serbian football association lodged a formal complaint over Shaqiri and Xhaka’s celebrations on Saturday and FIFA later confirmed that both would be investigated.
Secretary general Jovan Surbatovic has raised his grievances to the world governing body over falling foul of regulations against ‘provoking the general public’ based on “the case of the boots, a question of several controversial flags and the celebration of both goals for Switzerland”, according to the Guardian.
It seems the Swiss players could have fallen foul of ‘Provoking the public’ and the suggested punishment is ‘Anyone who provokes the general public during a match will be suspended for two matches and sanctioned with a minimum fine of CHF 5,000.’
The bans would not affect the availability of either player at club level.
Full-back Lichtsteiner defended the celebration of his compatriots after the match.
He said: “”We had a lot of pressure, it was not an easy game for us.
“We have a lot of Albanians, so there is a lot of history between Serbia and Albania. It was a very tough game for them mentally.
“It was good. Why not? This is the history for them. The war between them was so difficult. I spoke to the father of one of our players who is Albanian, and he told me about this history. This is more than football. This is more than football because they have this period, this war that gave them both big problems.
“I understand them. I think it’s normal, it’s part of their life. There was also big provocation ahead of the game from them [Serbia], so I think it’s normal.”
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