Swiss rely on immigrant World Cup team despite controversial stay out vote

The Switzerland national team would be facing Honduras today in its final group game and would need to emerge favorably in order to advance to the knockout rounds. On the other hand, it was odd for the Swiss to rely on their national team in the World Cup considering that it has recently passed a law that introduced quotas for foreigners, Bloomberg reported.

Citing data compiled by independent visual designer James Offer of Codehesive Production, Bloomberg said fifteen of the 23-player squad have parents or grandparents who were not born in the country. The ratio is higher than any of the 31 participating nations in the tournament in Brazil and is higher than the US, who came in second at 14 players. The team's national coach himself, Ottmar Hitzfeld, is a German citizen.

In February, a majority of less than 20,000 voters have passed a measure designed to "stop mass immigration" in the country.

Nonetheless, the Swiss somewhat overlooked this latest measure, as scores of fans showed their love for their team dubbed "the Nati" in World Cup venues, online and on television.

Hitzfeld told reporters on June 19 the importance of players who have come from the line of immigrants, "Without our migrants we would have problems qualifying for a World Cup. Switzerland is delighted with these migrants who are well-integrated. This is great for the whole of Switzerland."

Hitzfeld's statement rings true should one take the immigrants out of the World Cup equation. Bloomberg said that Switzerland, who currently ranks sixth by FIFA, scored all of its goals by players with immigrant lineage. Back home, skilled immigrants have been credited for their role in Swiss business for hundreds of years, even though critics have always blame them for high rents to low wages on foreigners.

Head Rafaele Poli of the CIES Football Observatory in Neuchatel said the opinion on immigrants in Switzerland in light of the new measure would depend on the outcome of the Swiss team's match against Honduras. He said, "A win against Honduras could make this dream possible. People don't expect Switzerland to go any further than the last 16. If the squad reaches this goal everyone will be thrilled."

Tags

Switzerland, 2014 Switzerland vs Honduras, Swiss team coach Ottmar Hitzfeld

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