World Cup 2018: Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka face punishment over 'political' goal celebrations

Two players each mark goals against Serbia by making a gesture with their hands in apparent nod to Albanian flag

Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri could face punishment for their use of an Albanian nationalist symbol to celebrate their goals in Switzerland’s dramatic 2-1 World Cup win over Serbia on Friday.

The pair, both of Kosovar-Albanian heritage, turned the Group E meeting in Kaliningrad on its head in the second half, each scoring to earn Switzerland victory after Aleksandar Mitrovic’s early opener.

Xhaka, whose father was imprisoned in the former Yugoslavia after protesting for Kosovan independence, celebrated his second-half equaliser by locking his open hands together at the the thumbs and ‘flapping’ his fingers. The gesture resembles – and is understood to be a reference to – the two-headed eagle on Albania’s national flag.

Shaqiri, who was born in Kosovo and plays with the Kosovan flag stitched into his boots, celebrated in the same manner after scoring a 90th-minute winner.

The celebrations run the risk of inflaming tensions between ethnic Albanians and nationalist Serbs in Kosovo and beyond. Kosovo’s Albanian-majority political institutions declared independence from Serbia in 2008. A decade on, Serbia still does not recognise Kosovo’s independence.

Xhaka and Shaqiri could face punishment from Fifa, world football’s governing body, if their celebrations are deemed to be displays of political symbols. Jovan Surbatovic, the general secretary of the Football Association of Serbia, said on Saturday that the organisation intends to write a complaint to Fifa regarding the matter.

Shaqiri put his reaction to his late winner down to ‘emotion’. “I think in football you have always emotions,” the Stoke City forward said. “You can see what I did and I think it’s just emotion. I’m very happy to score this goal. It’s not more. I think we don’t have to speak about this now.”

Vladimir Petkovic, Switzerland’s head coach, suggested his players were caught in the heat of the moment and hoped the celebrations would not detract from his side’s victory.

“You should never mix politics and football. It’s clear that emotions show up and that’s how things happen,” he said. “I think we all together need to steer away from politics in football and we should focus on this sport as a beautiful game and something that brings people together.”