Arsenal football club might not have the services of the club’s assistant captain, Granit Xhaka when they take on Norwich City on September 11, 2021.
The 28-year-old defensive midfielder tested positive for coronavirus when on international duty with Switzerland ahead of the county’s FIFA World Cup qualifiers match against Greece.
On Thursday morning, September 2, the Switzerland Football Association confirmed that Granit Xhaka refused to accept covid-19 vaccine when his national teammates were being vaccinated against the virus.
In his absence on Wednesday, September 1, Switzerland went on to defeat Greece 2-1 at St. Jakob-Park stadium in Basel, to start their World Cup qualifiers on a positive note.
Granit Xhaka who is the captain of the Switzerland national team is expected to undergo another Covid-19 test later today.
If the test result comes out positive, he would miss Switzerland’s World Cup qualifiers against Italy scheduled to take place at 19:45 on Sunday, September 5.
Also, he might self-isolate for 10 days or until he tests negative for the virus before he would be allowed to socialize again. If that happens, he would most likely miss Arsenal’s game against Norwich.
Arsenal’s coach, Mikel Arteta would not want such a thing to happen based on how difficult it has been for the team to have a good game so far this season.
Recall that Arsenal have recorded three successive defeats in the Premier League this season. The woeful performance has forced the Premier League club to drop to the bottom of the league table.
It has been so bad for Arsenal that they are yet to score a goal in three games and they have conceded 9 goals in three league games. Hence, the coach would hope that Granit Xhaka would be covid-19 free before the international break is over.
Granit Xhaka has rejected the chance to take a vaccination against Covid-19, the Swiss Football Association confirmed after the midfielder tested positive. 🇨🇭 pic.twitter.com/Kmmg5lMW8F
— FutbolBible (@FutbolBible) September 2, 2021
Meanwhile, Chile, Mexico, and Paraguay have urged the world football governing body, FIFA, to punish the Premier League for stopping players in the league from representing the countries that are in United Kingdom’s Covid-19 red list.
If FIFA reacts to the calls of the three countries, the football governing body might ban the players of the clubs from playing for their clubs during international breaks, and additional five days after the break.
Recall that a week before the FIFA international break, the Premier League clubs agreed that they would not release players for international games taking place in countries on the UK government’s red list.
Countries like: Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, Egypt, Argentina, and Brazil are among the countries on the UK government’s red list.
