Granit Xhaka & Xherdan Shaqiri Facing Disciplinary Action Over Controversial Goal Celebrations

Switzerland stars Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri are facing disciplinary action from FIFA over their controversial celebrations after scoring in their country's 2-1 win over Serbia on Friday, per Sky Sports.

The Swiss overturned a 1-0 deficit to provide the 2018 World Cup with its first comeback win of the tournament, with Xhaka's thunderbolt from outside of the box tying things up, and a late counter seeing Shaqiri seal it the win at the death following Aleksandar Mitrovic's opener.

MB Media/GettyImages

Both players celebrated by crossing their hands to form what looked like a two-headed eagle, something similar to what's seen on the Albanian national flag.

Shaqiri was born in Kosovo, while Xhaka also has ties to the country, which is only partially recognised and was previously fought over by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia - Montenegro and Serbia against the Kosovo Liberation Army during the late 1990s.

While Kosovo are recognised by UEFA, Serbia do not view them as an independent state, something which has left the relationship between the two countries strained.

FIFA have since notified the players that they will be opening disciplinary proceedings against them under Article 54 of their disciplinary code, which states that any player who provokes the general public during a match will be suspended for two matches and pay a fine of 500 Swiss francs (£3,800).

"The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has opened disciplinary proceedings against the Swiss players Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri for their goal celebration during the match Switzerland vs. Serbia," they said in a statement on Saturday.

"It's just emotion," Shaqiri said regarding the gesture following Friday's win. "I'm very happy to score this goal. It's not more. I think we don't have to speak about this now."

Meanwhile, FIFA have also opened proceedings against the Serbian Football Association for "crowd disturbance and the display of political and offensive messages by Serbian fans."