Mustafi celebration: Arsenal defender faces potential FA fine for Albanian eagle gesture
Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi could be fined by the FA after celebrating by taking the shape of the Albanian double-headed eagle against Cardiff City.
The 26-year-old headed home from a corner to open the scoring, rising highest to meet Granit Xhaka’s delivery before using his hands to make the political gesture.
Xhaka and his Swiss teammate Xherdan Shaqiri were both punished by FIFA at the World Cup for celebrating their 2-1 victory over Serbia.
The Swiss duo could have faced a match ban, but both were fined £7,600 ($9,850) for making the Albanian eagle hand gesture. Swiss captain and new Arsenal signing Stephan Lichtsteiner was also fined £3,700 ($4,795) for his participation in the goal celebration at the World Cup.
Now Mustafi could be in a sticky situation in England after repeating the celebration, in reference to his own ancestry, coming from an Albanian family who moved to Germany.
The International Football Association Board’s laws of the game state that players must refrain from “using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures” or “making gestures in a provocative, derisive or inflammatory manner.”
Celebrations should also not refer to “a local, regional, national or international political party/organization/group, etc.” » or “a specific political act/event”.
The FA will then decide on the sanction and may sanction the player or team if it decides that an offense has been committed.
Mustafi has previously spoken about his Albanian origins, which saw his grandfather forced to leave the country and settle in Germany, highlighting how difficult it is for people to understand the difficulties of immigration unless they have experienced it.
“You have to understand when people who come to the UK and Germany don’t know what this person has seen in their life before,” said the Daily Mail in 2016.
“When I go back to Albania, you have six-year-old children who don’t go to school and have to work. There is no school. So they come to this country and it’s difficult. We all have to understand the differences. It’s complicated but you have to understand.”