A lesson in soccer tolerance

BAD BERTRICH, Germany – He fled the Balkans as a child, struggled as a refugee in Switzerland, then won acceptance through soccer.

Now Valon Behrami’s life story is being used as a lesson in tolerance in his adopted home.

“Our national team can teach us how different cultures can live together in our country,” reads the introduction to Behrami’s story in a booklet distributed in middle schools around Zurich. Other stories feature children of immigrants from Togo, South Korea and France — the three nations in Switzerland’s opening-round World Cup group.

Nearly 20 percent of Switzerland’s 7.5 million residents were born elsewhere, and there’s an ongoing debate over whether to restrict immigration. Two years ago, Swiss voters rejected proposals to ease naturalization rules for tens of thousands of foreigners, a result fueled in part by a reluctance to embrace a growing Balkan community.

In an interview, Behrami said he had been unaware of the work book and the chapter about him.

“This is very important,” he said after thumbing through its 70 pages. “As a child, it’s not so easy when you’re a foreigner.”

He speaks from experience.

When Behrami was only five, his family fled civil war in Kosovo and settled in southern Switzerland.

Life was hard. In Kosovo, his father had been a factory manager, his mother a secretary. In Switzerland, his father worked as a driver and his mother found work cleaning and working in a factory.

His mother often worked the late shift, Behrami said, so he and his sister would be home alone in the evening.

At one point, the family was in danger of being deported when their request for political asylum was rejected. They were allowed to stay after years of bureaucratic wrangling and a petition drive by friends who rallied around them.

Life has eased with Behrami’s soccer success, which has included a quick rise through the Italian league to his current place on the club Lazio.

His mother Halime has quit her factory job, he said, though his father Ragib still drives a van to keep busy.

Just 21, Behrami is one of Switzerland’s most promising young players, making his name when he came on as a substitute to score a crucial goal against Turkey that helped Switzerland qualify for the World Cup.

His trip to Germany has, however, been a disappointment owing to a groin injury that will sideline him for Switzerland’s game today against Togo, and perhaps the entire tournament.

Behrami said he might visit his hometown of Mitrovica in Kosovo after the World Cup, but wouldn’t return to live, especially if he starts his own family one day.

Still, he often thinks back to his difficult childhood – and still feels like an immigrant.

According to the booklet, the constant fear of deportation traumatized Behrami as a child.

The soccer star is grateful to have a new home in Switzerland, it explains, but, “The years of fear and the arrogance toward refugees from Kosovo have not been forgotten.”