Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Crowds at the Montreux Jazz Festival got a refreshing shower last night, but the weather’s looking good for the rest of the gig, which ends on Saturday.
Scientists in Switzerland revealed yesterday how climate change is making the days on Earth slightly longer. Here’s more on that and other news and stories from Switzerland on Tuesday.
In the news: Longer days, dearer tickets, lower start-up funding, higher healthcare costs, and more awareness for a rare disease.
Climate change is making the days on Earth slightly longer, according to Swiss research. Melting polar ice discharging into the oceans is changing the distribution of mass across the planet, which is slowing down the Earth’s rotation.
Ticket prices for concerts and music festivals in Switzerland reached a new high in 2023. The average price of a ticket rose to CHF89.86 ($100.50) – 3.9% more than in the previous year.
Funding for start-ups in Switzerland remained at a low level in the first half of 2024. Venture capital invested fell by 9.5% to CHF1.1 billion, according to the Swiss Venture Capital Report released today.
The hype surrounding diabetes and weight loss injections is driving up Swiss healthcare costs. “The expenditure for all health insurers in Switzerland will amount to several hundred million francs next year,” says Philomena Colatrella, head of the CSS insurer.
A little-known disease has come into the spotlight with a documentary about Céline Dion. According to one expert, the fact that the singer is a famous person with Stiff Person Syndrome is good news of sorts for the 100 or so people affected in Switzerland.
The delegates of the Council of the Swiss Abroad have approved a project for more direct elections. However, new electoral constituencies have sparked discussion, as has the board’s decision to hold the Congress only every four years.
“It’s the elephant in the room,” says working group member Andreas Feller-Ryf about the project he presented to the delegates of the Council of the Swiss Abroad (CSA) in Lucerne. Along with a group of younger members, he want a more democratic and direct election of the body that represents the Swiss Abroad from all around the world. It’s an ambitious project. Until now, the CSA has been chosen indirectly: the members of associations elect their country delegates to the body.
In this in-depth article, we look at a second elephant in an increasingly crowded room: the issue of Swiss clubs and associations. These are dwindling and there are fears of a loss of power within the clubs as a result of a democratic election.
Why is there a push for a new electoral system? Why will the Congress of the Swiss Abroad take place every four years rather than every year? And what progress has been made regarding a constituency for the Swiss Abroad?
Former Bayern Munich and Liverpool winger Xherdan Shaqiri announced his retirement from international football yesterday, after a 14-year spell with the Swiss national team. Here are some of the highlights from the career of one of Switzerland best-ever players.
The first international match
March 3, 2010: Aged 18, Shaqiri plays his first 45 minutes in a Swiss shirt in the second half of the first test match in the run-up to the 2010 World Cup against Uruguay. “Shaqiri is a great talent who could be an asset for us,” said national team manager Ottmar Hitzfeld after the match in St Gallen (which Switzerland lost 3-1). Shaqiri also makes it into the World Cup squad for the tournament in South Africa, but only plays 12 minutes.
The first goal
September 7, 2010: In the unsuccessful qualifiers for the European Championship in Poland and Ukraine, Shaqiri scores the first of 32 international goals in a 3-1 defeat against England in Basel.
The first show
September 6, 2011: St Jacob’s Park in Basel is the venue as Shaqiri announces himself on the scene one year after his first goal for Switzerland. The teenager from FC Basel scored three goals to lead Switzerland to a 3:1 home win against Bulgaria. His third goal in the 90th minute was brilliant: after a corner, Shaqiri scored from around 20 metres.
Hat-trick in the jungle
June 25, 2014: In the Brazilian jungle in Manaus, Shaqiri scored his first three of a total of ten goals at the World Cup finals. Five days after a 5-2 defeat to France in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, he scored a hat-trick to send Switzerland through to the round of 16 with a 3-0 win over Honduras. There, the era of Ottmar Hitzfeld came to an end with a bitter 1-0 defeat against Argentina.
Side-footed goal against Poland
June 25, 2016: Probably Shaqiri’s most spectacular goal – and there were many. In the European Championship round of 16 against Poland in Saint-Etienne, Shaqiri scored in the 82nd minute with a fantastic side-footed shot from the edge of the penalty area to make it 1:1. He also scored in the penalty shoot-out, but it was not enough to progress.
Solo against Serbia
June 22, 2018: There were only a few seconds left to play in the second group match of the World Cup in Russia against Serbia when Shaqiri was launched towards his opponent’s goal with two deep passes. He withstood the onrushing defender and scored to make it 2:1 – a goal that was all the more special for Kosovo-born Shaqiri as it was scored against Serbia. The double-headed eagle then became a big talking point.
The fifth World Cup goal
December 2, 2022: After missing out on the second group game of the World Cup in Qatar against Brazil under national coach Murat Yakin, Shaqiri delivered in the final game of the preliminary round against Serbia. He scored 1:0 after 20 minutes in the 3:2 victory.
The final trick
June 19, 2024: Shaqiri plays just over 70 minutes at the European Championship in Germany. But even in this short time, he proves once again what an exceptional footballer he is. In the second group match against Scotland (1:1), he equalised after just under half an hour with a wonderful shot into the top left corner of the goal. Two-and-a-half weeks later, in the lost quarterfinal against England, he was a few centimetres short of another stroke of genius when his direct corner ricocheted off the edge of the goal. Although he scored, Switzerland were eliminated in the penalty shoot-out. Xherdan Shaqiri’s national team career ends with 125 caps and 32 goals.
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