In a tough blow to Liverpool, before a difficult stand-off against Serbia's Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League, Swiss side Sheridan Shakiri came out of the Reds for political reasons.
The club said he was not sure how to welcome Shakiri in the Serbian capital after the player, who is of Albanian and Kosovo descent, scored the goal of Switzerland's 2-1 victory over Serbia at the World Cup in June and marked a sign of the eagle in Albania's flag.
Serbia refuses to recognize the independence of its former province of Kosovo, and most of Kosovo's 1.8 million ethnic Albanians are ethnic. The disengagement took place 10 years ago.
"We've heard and read about some speculation about Shakiri's reception," Liverpool manager Jorgen Klopp told the club's Web site. "Although we have no idea what's going to happen, we want to go there at the top of the football focus without thinking about anything else. .
"There is no political message at all, but we want to focus on playing a great match and freeing ourselves from everything else."
FIFA has fined 10 000 Swiss francs ($ 9,051) for celebrating the side of fellow Granit Chaka, who is also of Albanian and Kosovo descent, who scored equalizer for Switzerland in the same game and celebrated in a similar fashion.
Shakiri denied there was any political purpose behind the ceremony.
Liverpool won 4-0 at Red Star in the Anfield Stadium last month, and Group C, while the Serbian won one point from three games to downgrade the group, which also includes Paris Saint Germain and Napoli.
