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Basel win with Shaqiri comeback | August 25, 2024

Euphoria on and off the pitch in Basel: Fabio Celestini’s team celebrates its third championship victory in a row with a 2-0 win at home against Yverdon and welcomes Xherdan Shaqiri. And thanks to its first championship victory against Sion, GC gave up last place in the table to Bern’s Young Boys.

Xherdan Shaqiri (front) thanks the fans after his comeback in the FC Basel jersey after the championship match against Yverdon Sport FC.Photo: Keystone

The more than 30,000 spectators in St. Jakob-Park, which had not been this full for FCB for over a year, also came for him: returning player Xherdan Shaqiri. In the 66th minute he made his first appearance for his home club in over twelve years. He immediately made his mark with a free kick that Yverdon’s goalkeeper Paul Bernardoni had difficulty saving.

The prospects with Shaqiri and Kevin Carlos, who has also been newly signed but has not yet played, are one positive thing for FCB. The other is that things are already going well without the two top players. The last four games – three in the Super League and one in the Cup – have resulted in four wins and a goal difference of 19:0. The last time FCB had three wins in the championship was two and a half years ago.

FC Basel, which had been struggling for a long time, has woken up. The enthusiasm that had been missing for months has returned. The joy of playing is evident. Against Yverdon, the Basel team stormed forward enthusiastically for the first quarter of an hour and were rewarded with Albian Ajeti’s third goal of the season. This was preceded by a fantastic outside-of-the-foot cross from Dominik Schmid.

After that, there were ups and downs in Basel’s game, with Yverdon creating two good scoring opportunities. But the three points were no longer in danger after Bradley Fink made it 2-0 in the 55th minute – after Schmid’s assist. The goal was not without controversy, because the previous attempt by Léo Leroy to win the ball could have been disallowed.

The future now looks bright for Basel. Next Saturday they will travel to Sion before hosting FC Zurich after the international break – probably again in front of more than 30,000 spectators.

GC hands over red lantern to YB

The Grasshoppers achieved their first championship victory. Two unexpected goalscorers gave the Zurich team a 3-1 home victory against FC Sion. The Grasshoppers waited almost a month for the work permit of Lee Young-Jun, the 21-year-old South Korean striker. A few days before the fifth Super League game of the season, Lee finally received the okay and needed just 42 seconds to score in his first match for GC.

The next GC goalscorer on Saturday evening, Latvian defender Kristers Tobers, ended a nearly five-year drought without a goal at club level. A good hour and three minutes after Sion’s interim equaliser, the 23-year-old scored with a drop kick from 15 metres to make it 2-1. Tsiy Ndenge secured the win in the 90th minute.

Even if Zurich’s three goals were a bit of a coincidence, the win was deserved. GC did a lot and had good chances in addition to the moves that led to the goals. Sion offered little apart from the beautiful combination that preceded Kevin Bua’s 1:1. Thanks to the win, GC gave up last place in the table to YB.

Lucerne in a state of euphoria

FC Luzern wins for the third time in a row. Lars Villiger shines as a double goalscorer in the 3-0 home win against Winterthur. In his 50th Super League game, he showed how important he is for FCL in this still young season. The Central Swiss team showed a solid, composed performance, which the 21-year-old homegrown player enhanced with his two goals. He has now scored four league goals and one goal in the cup this season. German newcomer Sinan Karweina also had a taste of success with the 3-0 win. It was his first goal in the Super League.

After just two and a half minutes, Villiger scored the game-changing 1-0 against a harmless Winterthur team. The Swiss junior international beat Winterthur goalkeeper Markus Kuster and headed the ball past the Austrian into the net. After the break, a perfect pass from Thibault Klidjé put him in a scoring position. With a lob, he beat the Greek Stefanos Kapino, who had replaced the injured Kuster during the break.

Winterthur’s coach Ognjen Zaric will have a few things to think about in the coming days. His team made very little of the ball they had. Two chances after the break, when shots flew just wide of the post, were the best the Zurich team had to offer.

Super League, 5. Runde

On Saturday,

FC Lucerne – FC Winterthur 3:0 (1:0)

Grasshoppers Club Zürich – FC Sion 3:1 (0:0)

On Sunday,

FC Basel – Yverdon Sport FC 2:0 (1:0)

Tables Ten Challenge League

Is the resolution of the objection delayed? | 26. August 2024

Four out of five donor hearts for children have recently been imported from abroad. This is one of the reasons why the mortality rate of children who depend on a donor heart has fallen to 15 percent, said Franz Immer, director of Swisstransplant.

Franz Immer, Director of Swisstransplant, poses at the Swisstransplant office in Bern. Fotos: Keystone

When Immer started at Swisstransplant around 16 years ago, the mortality rate of children who needed a donor heart was still at 80 percent. This was stated by the director of the national foundation for organ donation and transplantation in an interview with the “Tages-Anzeiger” on Saturday.

Between 350 and 400 organs are listed each year on the platform of the European allocation organization Foedus, Immer said. The most common are hearts, followed by lungs and livers. The organization was founded because it is often not possible to find a recipient in one’s own country, especially for children.

Transport of maximum four hours

Switzerland imported 45 organs and exported 26 organs last year, said Immer. The aim is to balance exports and imports. The transport of an organ costs around 20,000 francs, depending on the distance. “For a heart, transport should not take more than four hours,” said Immer.

Swisstransplant uses such cool boxes to transport donated organs for transplantation.

To put the figure into perspective: According to Immer, a heart transplant costs around 150,000 francs, a kidney transplant a good 60,000 francs. Dialysis, on the other hand, costs 100,000 francs per year. “With 300 transplants, the savings potential amounts to half a billion francs per year,” Immer calculated.

All-time high for organ donations in Switzerland

Last year, more organs were donated in Switzerland than ever before. A total of 675 people on the waiting list received an urgently needed organ in 2023. In 2022, the Swiss electorate approved the so-called extended opt-out solution (the J platform reported). It is expected to come into force in 2026. After that, all people who did not refuse to do so during their lifetime will be considered organ donors. A person’s relatives can still prevent organ removal.

General agreement with the Transplantation Regulation

The Federal Council’s regulation on the implementation of the so-called opt-out solution for transplants has been met with general approval by parties and organizations. However, there was criticism during the consultation process because the opt-out process was too complicated and there was a possible delay due to the link to the e-ID.

The Swiss electorate approved the so-called extended opt-out solution in 2022. This means that all people who did not refuse to do so during their lifetime are now considered organ donors. A person’s relatives can still prevent organ removal.

According to the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS), the procedures for determining willingness to donate in the Federal Council’s ordinance are too complicated and there are various ambiguities.

In addition, the obligation of hospitals to inquire about known and reachable next of kin is formulated too comprehensively. This would lead to too much work for hospitals.

Data protection and information

The SVP, for its part, insists that the register in which people who do not wish to donate their organs must register must “have the highest standards of data protection.” The party also demands that, in addition to the e-ID, identification in the register must also be possible using a passport or a physical ID.

However, the party believes that the key to implementation is the obligation to provide information by authorities and experts. The population must be actively informed about their right to object and be able to receive help with registration. If the will is unclear, the surviving relatives must also be given precise information.

The SP is also concerned about informing the population: it demands that the Federal Council be explicitly obliged in the regulation to carry out an information campaign so that most people are motivated to hold on to their will.

Transitional solution required before E-ID

The director of Swisstransplant, Franz Immer, feared in the SRF program “Heute Morgen” on Wednesday that linking the declaration of objection to the e-ID could lead to a delay in the implementation of the will of the people. This would be difficult from the perspective of the patients affected.

In its response to the consultation, which ended on Wednesday, the SP is therefore calling for an interim solution until an e-ID is introduced. This would allow people to register in the organ and tissue donation register beforehand.

The FDP is even clearer on this point: it is incomprehensible that linking the register to a future e-ID would create further hurdles. It is therefore also calling for alternative identification features to be used until the e-ID is available.

The Evangelical Reformed Church of Switzerland (EKS) also fears that problems with the introduction of the e-ID could also lead to “immediate negative effects” on organ distribution.

The EKS considers it unacceptable that the regulation allows preparatory measures for organ removal to begin before a possible objection has been finally resolved. This contradicts the principle of doing no harm and doing good to the dying or deceased person.