Xherdan Shaqiri forced to serve ban before making Stoke debut
Stoke City supporters will have to wait before getting their first glimpse of record signing Xherdan Shaqiri in action as a suspension from his time at Inter will result in him sitting out Saturday's Premier League match against Tottenham.
The Switzerland international has received international clearance for his move to the Britannia Stadium - which was confirmed earlier this week - but the winger had not served a one-game ban from the Italian Football Federation that applied to the Coppa Italia.
FIFA rules state that if a player moves to a league in a different country, he or she must serve any outstanding bans at that new club.
Stoke has now confirmed that Shaqiri will miss the trip to White Hart Lane.
"The club have received international clearance for Xherdan Shaqiri to complete his registration as a Stoke City player," read a statement on Stoke's official website. "Unfortunately the clearance from the Italian FA carried a sporting sanction of a one-game ban which applied to the Coppa Italia competition last season.
"In accordance with FIFA Regulations, The FA have no alternative but to implement the suspension of another association, but the club have expressed its disappointment that the suspension has been applied to a Premier League fixture this season rather than to a comparative cup competition fixture."
After acknowledging it would cause Shaqiri to miss the weekend's match, the statement added: "Despite the immense disappointment of both the club and player, we look forward to seeing Xherdan in action once he is free of this sanction."
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