Switzerland

There has been a lot of speculation regarding the future of Swiss player Xherdan Shaqiri. He has been linked with German giants Bayern Munich for quite some time now.

Finally, the German club have announced that they have signed the player on a four-year deal in the final few hours of the January transfer window. FC Basel 1893 will now sell the player when the transfer window reopens in the summer. Until then, he will be spending time with his current club FC Basel 1893. This is one of the major moves for a Swiss player in recent times.

FIFA have drawn a line under the Sion / UEFA / Europe League controversy, and are allowing Switzerland to continue to compete in international competition.

There had been speculation that FIFA would ban the Swiss FA from the World Cup and European Championships because they had failed to deal with the on-going controversy at Sion, one of the top clubs in the Swiss League, but this has now been resolved.

Sion managed to finish in third last season, and would be on course for another good finish this year were it not for the massive 36 point penalty placed on them by the Swiss FA, which leaves them way off the pace at the bottom of the league, with games running out.

The Swiss football Association has already been warned about the severe consequences they could face from FIFA after failing to recognise and penalise FC Sion, who fielded ineligible players in many matches this season.

As a result, the Swiss football Association has moved in to hand a 36-point penalty. The Swiss football Association took the decision to penalise the club for every ineligible player used in the league and European matches this season. This decision comes in the wake of the warning from FIFA that Swiss football could totally eliminated from the world football calendar should they not punish the club.

The Swiss Football Association has announced that it has extended its current deal with sportswear giant Puma. The long-term contract extension sits well with the Football Association and its plans to make the Swiss game even more attractive. The Sportlifestyle brand will also be the main technical partner for the SFV.

Puma will also be the licensed partner for their various associations up until the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which takes place in Brazil, and also the 2016 European championships. Ahead of the announcement, Puma also launched their latest kit for the Swiss national team.

Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld insists that Switzerland are ready for the challenge of the Netherlands, and that even without a number of key players the Swiss can more than match their neighbours.

Switzerland are set to inspect various football organisations like FIFA, UEFA console and so on. The country has decided to hold an investigation amid recent bribery scandals, the Swiss Federal Council said adding that it is looking for the eradication of corruption and bribery on all levels.

After the inspection, the country's Federal Sports Service will prepare a report revealing the measures the sports organizations are taking to prevent and remove possible violations.

Switzerland have slipped four places in the latest FIFA rankings. The ranking is led by the same world and European champions Spain. The Iberians are in Holland and Germany. A big leap forward made Montenegro.

The Swiss opponent on 8 October in the European Championship qualifiers improved from rank 73 to the 40th Place. The other group opponents England, Bulgaria and Wales are ranked at positions 6, 54 and 84.

Switzerland will be without Barnetta when they face England for the Euro 2012 qualifiers. The 25-year-old midfielder was also the day after the match against Australia (0-0) nor fever. Therefore Ottmar Hitzfeld decided in consultation with team doctor Roland Great, and the player who definitely plan without Barnetta.

Switzerland's coach Otmar Hitzfeld eyed an opening upset win against Spain as he named an experienced 30-man preliminary squad for the 2010 world Cup in South Africa.

"We want to win," Hitzfeld replied when he was asked if the Swiss would go for a draw against the European champions in Group H on June 16.

However, the experienced German coach underlined that Spanish concerns about injured stars such as Cesc Fabregas made little difference to the task ahead.

"I don't see any personnel problems with Spain. Spain can field two whole teams," he told reporters.

The Seattle Sounders FC signed Dutch FC Twente and Switzerland international forward Blaise Nkufo, the Major League Soccer team announced on its website on Thursday.

Nkufo, the all-time scoring leader for Twente with 111 career goals in seven seasons, will join the Sounders after competing with the Swiss national team at the World Cup this summer.