The 33-year-old midfielder posted an admission on Instagram on Monday morning, days after Swiss investigators confirmed a criminal probe into how he obtained the certificate.

“In this troubled state of mind, I bought a vaccination certificate instead of clarifying my doubts through official channels,” Xhaka wrote, describing what he called a deep mistrust that brought fear and uncertainty about the vaccine at the time.

“Today I see clearly that this path was not the right one. It was a mistake. I am sorry.”

Xhaka added that he is “cooperating fully with the relevant authorities” and will address the case in full once prosecutors have interviewed him.

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Doctor in Lucerne at center of case

The investigation is being run by the Lucerne public prosecutor’s office and centers on a female doctor whose clinic was raided by Swiss police in 2023. Investigators believe she issued vaccination certificates to multiple patients without ever administering the jab.

Xhaka is one of the individuals whose paperwork is being examined. His agent, Andreas Bantel, has said the player is fully cooperating with the authorities and completely transparent, and produced vaccination dates of 25 January 2022 and 11 November 2022 in his defense. The doctor’s lawyer, Cornel Borbély, has separately maintained that his client actually vaccinated Xhaka.

Prosecutor’s office spokesperson Simon Kopp said the probe would establish whether there is conduct relevant under criminal law in connection with a possible procurement of a false certification by deception and/or forgery of documents.

Five-year ceiling under Swiss law

Under articles 251 and 253 of the Swiss Criminal Code, a conviction for document forgery and obtaining false official certification carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, or a substantial fine. Xhaka is scheduled to appear before the Lucerne prosecutor at the beginning of October.

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Xhaka tested positive for Covid-19 in 2021 while playing for Arsenal.

Released from Switzerland squad

The Swiss Football Association has withdrawn Xhaka from the national team for the current international window. He will miss Nations League fixtures against North Macedonia, Scotland and Slovenia.

Association president Peter Knäbel said the decision was mutual.

“We have come to the conclusion together that it is in the team’s interest to dispute these games without him,” Knäbel said, in a statement confirming the release.

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His club career, for now, continues as normal. Xhaka wore the Sunderland captain’s armband over the weekend, and after the match he pushed back on the idea that the investigation was weighing on him.

“There’s no comment on that. I played football today. And that’s what matters to me right now,” Xhaka told Swiss newspaper NZZ, when asked about the case in the mixed zone.

Pressed again on whether the probe had affected him, he replied: “Not at all, I’ve had worse things happen.”

His appointment with the Lucerne prosecutor is set for early October.

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