Currently on international duty with Switzerland, it seems as if Granit Xhaka has issued a statement saying he will do whatever he can to get to play for Kosovo.

Xhaka published the ‘letter’ to try and clarify his international situation which has threatened to get more than a little messy over recent days

With his father speaking to the press about the situation, claiming that Granit and Taulant want to play for Kosovo but they aren’t allowed to by FIFA, it seems as if many see Granit as a ‘traitor’ for not playing for Kosovo.

Speaking in the paper, TalentEt, Granit published the following statement:

 [via Google translate so it’s a bit dodgy in places, I’ve cleaned it up where it was obvious what was meant and left others as they were]

With this letter I want to talk about the Albanian public opinion, that my career will continue in the future with Switzerland. I also want to clarify in this paper for all the readers how I came to this decision.

Opportunities according to the legal side:

According to an official statement distributed, FIFA has informed us that Granit played in the European Championships in 2016 and is no longer entitled to play for another nation.

Kosovo Football Federation [FFK] and FIFA do not have a clear agreement on the transfer of players from Switzerland to Kosovo.

FIFA clearly states those who played at EURO 2016 have no right to change his representative team.

Kosovo was admitted to FIFA a few weeks before the start of the European championships and then we had to be informed, because this information as players we do not have. Others knew, the speaker should have informed us.

For this reason, it is now impossible to change the guarantee of that nation, as well as FFK FIFA have not informed [us] on the legal side and in the way they should have done.

FFK should have sought clarification from FIFA on this point shortly after being admitted to FIFA and UEFA.

I like the interest and I am committed to my staff to work in this direction, if it is possible to play with Kosovo or not. I did not because I wanted the public to be informed in advance, then plead for a decision. I worked for months to do so.

Dispose all documents dating back to the beginning of June that my associates authorized by gjithça [?] that this thing has become a reality.

There are those who say truths, some federation leaders and some media.

Granit is not making public those gjithça, but he works for everything.

My contemporaries need [me] and my commitment has always been to follow all the procedures necessary to make it possible for me to play for Kosovo.

Me as Granit

So. That should settle things, right?

What I don’t understand is why he has accepted this call from Switzerland if he knows that FIFA are stopping players who represent another country after FFK were accepted.

All very confusing.