NewzWorld Cup quarterfinalist Switzerland has lost a second player from its Nations League squad because of years-old cases of fake COVID-19 documents. Switzerland striker Breel Embolo has been left out of the national squad for upcoming Nations League matches after being sanctioned for using forged Covid-19 test certificates. He is the second player to be dropped for this reason, following captain Granit Xhaka.
Switzerland striker Breel Embolo has been left out of the squad for the upcoming Nations League matches after being sanctioned for using forged Covid-19 test certificates during the pandemic. He is the second player this week to be dropped. Captain Granit Xhaka was omitted after he confessed to using a fake certificate to avoid a mandatory vaccination.
The Swiss football association on Friday announced, without specifying a reason, that Embolo would not be called up. However, Swiss media reported the omission was linked to a fine imposed in November 2025 after he claimed to have passed Covid tests using fake certificates. Details of the sanction against the Atlanta United player recently emerged through the Schweiz Heute outlet.
Galler Tagblatt daily, the former Monaco and Rennes player said he had “understood that (his) behaviour was not correct” and “accepted (his) responsibility”. Xhaka admitted his wrongdoing on Monday. “I felt deep mistrust regarding the vaccine and was gripped by anxiety and doubt,” the Sunderland midfielder said on social media.
The Swiss FA said Xhaka’s case would be reviewed after the current international window. Switzerland begin their campaign away to North Macedonia on Saturday and then travel to face Scotland on September 29. Embolo would have been suspended for the first game after his red card against Argentina in the World Cup quarter-finals.
The Swiss will then host Slovenia and North Macedonia in Lucerne on October 3 and 6. AFP The post Embolo follows Xhaka out of Swiss squad over fake Covid documents appeared first on Vanguard News. BERN, Switzerland (AP) — World Cup quarterfinalist Switzerland has lost a second player from its Nations League squad because of years-old cases of fake COVID-19 documents.Breel Embolo will not join the squad in Scotland as planned, the Swiss soccer federation said Friday, due to fresh reporting in national media about his past case of obtaining forged test certificates in 2021.“This decision aims to allow the team to remain fully focused on the next matches,” the federation said about the Atlanta United forward.Switzerland captain Granit Xhaka agreed with team officials last weekend to withdraw from the squad because he is implicated in an investigation of a doctor issuing fake vaccination certificates during the COVID-19 pandemic.Xhaka, the Swiss record holder with 152 caps, admitted getting the forged document in 2022 and accepted he made mistakes.Switzerland starts its Nations League second-tier group Saturday at North Macedonia, plays at Scotland on Tuesday, then has home games in Lucerne against Slovenia and North Macedonia.Embolo already was suspended for the game Saturday because of his controversial red card against Argentina in the World Cup quarterfinals.Soccer’s Zurich-based rules panel, known as IFAB, later acknowledged Embolo was mistakenly sent off in a breach of video review protocol.On Friday, the Switzerland Today outlet reported details of Embolo’s financial sanction imposed last year for the previously known false test result documents.At the World Cup, the 29-year-old Embolo scored in Switzerland's opening game — a 1-1 draw with Qatar — despite arriving at the tournament days later than teammates because of a visa issue with United States authorities.
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