When politics arrives at the World Cup: a review of these types of controversies in the World Cup
The Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, started a campaign to raise money to help the Albanian-Kosovar origin footballers of the Swiss national team, Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri, pay the fine of 10,000 Swiss francs (just over 10,000 dollars) imposed by FIFA.
Rama posted on his Facebook profile on Tuesday the campaign "Fear not the eagle!", which is the name of the bank account where anyone can make a symbolic contribution to pay the "absurd fine" of FIFA against Xhaka and Shaqiri. Switzerland defeated Serbia 2-1 with the goals of both players, who celebrated by crossing their hands in the shape of an eagle, symbol of the Albanian national flag, something that irritated their Serbian opponents.
"The sign of the hands in the shape of an eagle is our distinctive way of expressing happiness and we feel sorry for those who misunderstood the spontaneous joy of a beautiful sporting moment," said Rama. "This account was opened thanks to the support of many friends from all over the world on this social network, in gratitude to the two athletes who lifted the spirits of millions of Albanians in a sporting way," added the Prime Minister.
From football to politics
Albania and Slavic Serbia are historically antagonistic countries and collaboration between them is hindered by the Kosovo issue, a former Serbian province, predominantly populated by ethnic Albanians, which unilaterally declared independence in 2008, from where Xhaka and Shaqiri originate.
In Kosovo, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Bajram Hasani, has decided to donate part of his salary to pay the fine for the two Albanian-Kosovar footballers. "The emotions that Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri gave us when they celebrated with the eagle after scoring the goals in the Switzerland-Serbia match are priceless. They were condemned simply because they did not forget their roots, they did not forget where they come from," he wrote on Facebook.
EFE
