By Chris Wright
A couple of days ago Switzerland as a nation voted (by a slim majority of 50.3%) to cap immigration quotas. We’re not really in a position to wade into the politics here, but it’s safe to say the results of the referendum has been ‘controversial’ to say the least, what with it playing fast and loose with the EU’s laws on freedom of movement and all.
Anyway, to illustrate his pro-immigration point, Mathias Bolton, who is the Senior Coordinator for Commerce at UNI Global Union, was prompted to produce the following graphic – illustrating just how threadbare the Swiss national side would be without immigrant players or players hailing from immigrant families…
As is abundantly obvious looking at the graphic, the Swiss side has played host to a slew of ‘non-Swiss’ players over recent years, with the likes of the Yakin brothers, Gelson Fernandes, Gokhan Inler, Xherdan Shaqiri, Patjim Kasami, Valon Behrami, Eren Derdiyok, Blaise N’Kufo and Granit Xhaka (and that’s to name but a few) all either being born overseas themselves or being born to parents who were born overseas.
(Image: @Mathias_UNI)