COMMENT - Footballer Taulant Xhaka must be severely punished after his insulting chants

Footballer Taulant Xhaka played over 400 times for FC Basel for 13 years, winning nine titles and at times earning over a million Swiss francs a year. Xhaka is a household name in Basel, thanks to Taulant, but also because of his younger brother Granit, who has had a brilliant career abroad and is the Swiss national player's record cap with 135 appearances.

Taulant Xhaka is no longer a naive youngster, and at 34, he's nearing the end of his career. In the championship-winning season, he played almost no role in the team, making just nine appearances. Xhaka remains undiminished in Basel fan circles; he's a cult figure for his character and his loyalty to the club. This is reflected in the Basel Masters rap, which is primarily dedicated to Taulant Xhaka.

The intention is for the player to have a big (farewell) stage on May 24th in the final home game against FC Luzern.

But that's in acute danger because Taulant Xhaka behaved like a hooligan during FC Basel's championship celebrations last Sunday. Xhaka and many other members of FC Basel's inner circle are standing on the balcony, while the hyped-up crowd spreads out before them on Barfüsserplatz. Noise, shouting, torches, smoke, joy, ecstasy, excess.

Images show Xhaka lighting a pyrotechnic flare that was thrown up from the crowd and handed to him by teammate Dominik Schmid. Lighting the flare is a violation of the Explosives Act and is likely to be punished by the courts with a fine, as past pyrotechnic examples show. When FC Zurich players Mirlind Kryeziu and Adrian Winter lit flares while masked at a 2018 Cup victory celebration in Zurich, they were fined 5,000 and 3,000 Swiss francs, respectively. Such sums are, however, nothing to be sneezed at for a football player.

More serious than his behavior with the torch is what else Xhaka does on the balcony during those minutes. At one point, he yells the words: "Death and hate to FCZ." Below, the fans roar along. Not all of them. But many. And no one stops Xhaka. Instead, people can be seen beside him, their communication devices positioned and filming.

Afterwards, the inexcusable transgression was somewhat mitigated by Xhaka's public apology for his "transgressive remarks." The club, for its part, distanced itself from the "primitive statements" in a communiqué and cited "violated" club values.

The league is also taking action, although it believes the legal basis for statements and behavior outside of a game and a stadium is thin. But one thing, besides the criminal aspect, is crystal clear: Xhaka must be severely punished, by the club and the league, even if a long ban following the player's retirement is only symbolic.

Footballers are in the public eye and must be aware of their role as role models – even during a drunken celebration on a balcony far from the stadium. Club officials now assure that they prepared the players beforehand for appropriate behavior. Whatever the case, none of this worked for Xhaka. He simply lost control.

He didn't join in the shouting, but rather incited others to shout. It couldn't be more alarming. What's more, the reprehensible action was subsequently trivialized in some media outlets.

Whenever questions arise about why, for example, football fans from Basel and Zurich are attacking each other, one reason can be found on the balcony at Barfüsserplatz. That's why Taulant Xhaka must not be spared. Not even in the days of his farewell.