No more politics as Switzerland seeks World Cup progression

NIZHNY NOVGOROD, Russia (AP) " Don't look for any political overtones or distractions when Switzerland goes after a place in the knockout round of the World Cup in a match against Costa Rica.

FIFA fined three Swiss players for making hand gestures to celebrate goals in the last match, a 2-1 win over Serbia. The gestures seemed directed against the Balkan nation with many Swiss players having ties to the former Serbian province of Kosovo.

Swiss midfielder Valon Behrami said "of course we are happy that nobody was suspended."

Behrami has roots in Kosovo, but pushed the focus to Wednesday's match.

He said that it's not appropriate to focus on politics now "because we have to think about the main thing, which is playing football."

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