{{Short description|Swiss footballer (born 2000)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}} {{Infobox football biography |name = Amir Saipi |image = |caption = |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|2000|7|8|df=y}} |birth_place = [[Schaffhausen]], Switzerland |height = 1.94 m |position = [[Goalkeeper (association football)|Goalkeeper]] |currentclub = [[FC Lugano|Lugano]] |clubnumber = 1 |youthyears1 = {{0|0000}}–2018 |youthclubs1 = [[FC Schaffhausen|Schaffhausen]] |youthyears2 = 2017–2018 |youthclubs2 = → [[FC Winterthur|Winterthur]] (loan) |years1 = 2016–2019 |clubs1 = [[FC Schaffhausen|Schaffhausen]] U21 |caps1 = 2 |goals1 = 0 |years2 = 2018–2019 |clubs2 = → [[Grasshopper Club Zürich|Grasshoppers]] U21 (loan) |caps2 = 19 |goals2 = 0 |years3 = 2019–2021 |clubs3 = [[FC Schaffhausen|Schaffhausen]] |caps3 = 45 |goals3 = 0 |years4 = 2021– |clubs4 = [[FC Lugano|Lugano]] |caps4 = 140 |goals4 = 0 |nationalyears1 = 2019 |nationalteam1 = [[Switzerland national under-20 football team|Switzerland U20]] |nationalcaps1 = 4 |nationalgoals1 = 0 |nationalyears2 = 2021–2023 |nationalteam2 = [[Switzerland national under-21 football team|Switzerland U21]] |nationalcaps2 = 14 |nationalgoals2 = 0 |nationalyears3 = 2024– |nationalteam3 = [[Kosovo national football team|Kosovo]] |nationalcaps3 = 4 |nationalgoals3 = 0 |club-update = 26 May 2026 |nationalteam-update = 21:40, 15 November 2025 }} '''Amir Saipi'''{{efn|{{langx|sq|Amir Shaipi}}; {{langx|bs|Amir Šaipi}}<ref name=GL/>}} (born 8 July 2000) is a professional [[association football|footballer]] who plays as a [[Goalkeeper (association football)|goalkeeper]] for Swiss club [[FC Lugano|Lugano]]. Born in Switzerland, he represents [[Kosovo national football team|Kosovo]] at international level.
==Club career== ===Lugano=== On 10 September 2021, Saipi signed a five-year contract with [[Swiss Super League]] club [[FC Lugano|Lugano]] and receiving squad number 26.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fclugano.com/amir-saipi-giovane-talento-per-la-porta-bianconera/|title=Amir Saipi, giovane talento per la porta bianconera|trans-title=Amir Saipi, young talent for black and white goal|language=it|publisher=[[FC Lugano]]|date=10 September 2021}}</ref> Two days later, he was named as a first team substitute for the first time in a league match against [[FC Basel|Basel]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2021/09/12/switzerland/super-league/fc-lugano/fc-basel/3524205/|title=Lugano vs. Basel 1–1|website=Soccerway|access-date=12 September 2021}}</ref> His debut with Lugano came five days later in the [[2021–22 Swiss Cup#Round 2|2021–22 Swiss Cup second round]] against [[Neuchâtel Xamax FCS|Neuchâtel Xamax]] after being named in the starting line-up.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fclugano.com/coppa-xamax-lugano-0-1/|title=Coppa: Xamax–Lugano 0–1|trans-title=Cup: Xamax–Lugano 0–1|language=it|publisher=[[FC Lugano]]|date=17 September 2021}}</ref> On 24 October 2021, he made his league debut in a 2–0 away defeat again against [[FC Basel|Basel]] after being named in the starting line-up.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fclugano.com/basilea-lugano-2-0-2-0-2/|title=Basilea–Lugano 2–0 (2–0)|trans-title=Basel–Lugano 2–0 (2–0)|language=it|publisher=[[FC Lugano]]|date=24 October 2021}}</ref>
==International career== ===Under-20 and proposed Kosovo switch=== Saipi in 2019 was part of the [[Switzerland national under-20 football team|Switzerland U20]] with which he played four matches where most of them were [[Exhibition game#Association football|friendly matches]]. On 26 August 2019, the [[Football Federation of Kosovo]] announced that they had held a meeting with Saipi and were very close to starting the procedures of equipping him with the necessary documents to be ready to join [[Kosovo national football team|Kosovo]] for the friendly match against [[Gibraltar national football team|Gibraltar]] and [[UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Group A|UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying]] match against [[Montenegro national football team|Montenegro]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ffk-kosova.com/presidenti-ademi-takoi-portierin-e-schaffhausenit-amir-saipi/|title=Presidenti Ademi takoi portierin e Schaffhausenit, Amir Saipi|trans-title=President Ademi met Schaffhausen goalkeeper, Amir Saipi|language=sq|publisher=[[Football Federation of Kosovo]]|date=26 August 2019}}</ref>
===Under-21=== On 2 October 2020, Saipi received a call-up from [[Switzerland national under-21 football team|Switzerland U21]] for the [[2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 2|2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification]] matches against [[Georgia national under-21 football team|Georgia U21]] and [[Liechtenstein national under-21 football team|Liechtenstein U21]].<ref>{{cite tweet|user=nati_sfv_asf|author=Swiss Football Association|author-link=Swiss Football Association|number=1311997150100889600|language=de, fr, it|date=2 October 2020|title=Georgia vs Switzerland, 9.10, 18h00 {{!}} Switzerland vs Liechtenstein, 13.10, 18h00, Biel-Bienne}}</ref> On 30 May 2021, he made his debut with Switzerland U21 in a friendly match against [[Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team|Republic of Ireland U21]] after being named in the starting line-up.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.worldfootball.net/match-report/ma9225588/lineup/|title=Switzerland – Ireland 2:0 (U21 Friendlies 2021, May)|website=WorldFootball.net|access-date=30 May 2021}}</ref>
On 15 June 2023, Saipi was named to the Switzerland U21 squad for the [[2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship]], where he played in four matches, including the quarterfinal against [[Spain national under-21 football team|Spain]], in which they were eliminated 1–2 after extra time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.football.ch/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-2519/8537_read-266393/|title=U-21 EM: Out gegen Spanien|trans-title=U-21 European Championship: Out against Spain|language=de|publisher=[[Swiss Football Association]]|date=1 July 2023|access-date=10 September 2023}}</ref>
===Senior=== On 29 September 2024, it was announced by [[Corriere del Ticino]] that Saipi has decided to represent Kosovo at the international level.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cdt.ch/sport/calcio/niente-svizzera-saipi-sceglie-il-kosovo-364972|title=Niente Svizzera, Saipi sceglie il Kosovo|trans-title=No Switzerland, Saipi chooses Kosovo|language=Italian|author=Massimo Solari|publisher=[[Corriere del Ticino]]|date=29 September 2024}}</ref> Five days later, he formalizes the decision and accept their call-up for the [[2024–25 UEFA Nations League C#Group 2|2024–25 UEFA Nations League]] matches against [[Lithuania national football team|Lithuania]] and [[Cyprus national football team|Cyprus]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ffk-kosova.com/foda-publikon-listen-e-futbollisteve-per-ndeshjet-e-tetorit/|title=Foda publikon listën e futbollistëve për ndeshjet e tetorit|trans-title=Foda publishes the list of footballers for the October matches|language=Albanian|publisher=[[Football Federation of Kosovo]]|date=4 October 2024}}</ref> His debut with Kosovo came on 12 October in the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League match against Lithuania after being named in the starting line-up.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://telegrafi.com/formacionet-zyrtare-lituani-kosove-foda-shume-ndryshime/|title=Formacionet zyrtare: Lituani–Kosovë, Foda me shumë ndryshime|trans-title=Official line-ups: Lithuania–Kosovo, Foda with many changes|language=Albanian|publisher=[[Telegrafi]]|date=12 October 2024}}</ref>
==Personal life== Saipi was born in Schaffhausen, Switzerland to Bosniak parents from the village [[:sq:Lubinjë e Epërme|Lubinjë e Epërme]] of [[Prizren]].<ref name=GL>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/G.ljubinje/posts/1729456973859045/|title=Golman Amir Šaipi, rođen u Šafauzenu u Švajcarskoj, rekao je u intervju u nedelju za Kohu da je veoma zadovoljan|trans-title=Goalkeeper Amir Šaipi, born in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, told Koha in an interview on Sunday that he was very satisfied|quote=Šaipi je rođen u Švajcarskoj, ali mu je otac iz Prizrena (Gornjem Ljubinje). Prošle godine je za odmor bio na Kosovu, i kaže da će ga ponovo posetiti, jer mu se sviđa rodno mesto svoga oca|language=Bosnian|publisher=Gornje Ljubinje|website=[[Facebook]]|date=23 June 2020}}[[Wikipedia:SPS|{{sup|[''self-published'']}}]]</ref>
==Career statistics== ===Club=== {{updated|match played 24 May 2025}}<ref>{{Soccerway|amir-saipi/611956}}</ref>
{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center |+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition |- !rowspan=2|Club !rowspan=2|Season !colspan=3|League !colspan=2|National cup !colspan=2|Europe !colspan=2|Other !colspan=2|Total |- !Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals |- |[[Grasshopper Club Zürich|Grasshoppers]] U21 (loan) |[[2018–19 Swiss 1. Liga|2018–19]] |[[Swiss 1. Liga (football)|Swiss 1. Liga]] |19||0||colspan=2|—||colspan=2|—||colspan=2|—||19||0 |- |rowspan=5|[[FC Schaffhausen|Schaffhausen]] |[[2018–19 Swiss Super League|2018–19]] |[[Swiss Super League]] |0||0||0||0||colspan=2|—||colspan=2|—||0||0 |- |[[2019–20 Swiss Challenge League|2019–20]] |rowspan=3|[[Swiss Challenge League]] |30||0||0||0||colspan=2|—||colspan=2|—||30||0 |- |[[2020–21 Swiss Challenge League|2020–21]] |11||0||0||0||colspan=2|—||colspan=2|—||11||0 |- |[[2021–22 Swiss Challenge League|2021–22]] |4||0||0||0||colspan=2|—||colspan=2|—||4||0 |- !colspan=2|Total !45!!0!!0!!0!!colspan=2|—!!colspan=2|—!!45!!0 |- |rowspan=5|[[FC Lugano|Lugano]] |[[2021–22 Swiss Super League|2021–22]] |rowspan=4|[[Swiss Super League]] |22||0||4||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||26||0 |- |[[2022–23 Swiss Super League|2022–23]] |28||0||3||0||2||0||colspan="2"|—||33||0 |- |[[2023–24 Swiss Super League|2023–24]] |33||0||5||0||7||0||colspan="2"|—||45||0 |- |[[2024–25 Swiss Super League|2024–25]] |34||0||0||0||14||0||colspan="2"|—||48||0 |- !colspan=2|Total !117!!0!!12!!0!!23!!0!!colspan="2"|—!!152!!0 |- !colspan=3|Career total !181!!0!!12!!0!!23!!0!!0!!0!!216!!0 |}
===International=== {{updated|match played 15 November 2025}}<ref>{{NFT|id=96000}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ Appearances and goals by national team and year !National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals |- |rowspan="2"|[[Kosovo national football team|Kosovo]] |2024||1||0 |- |2025||3||0 |- !colspan="2"|Total!!4!!0 |}
==Honours== ;Lugano *[[Swiss Cup]]: [[2021–22 Swiss Cup|2021–22]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rsi.ch/sport/calcio/Tripudio-bianconero-la-Coppa-%C3%A8-del-Lugano-15328390.html|title=Tripudio bianconero, la Coppa è del Lugano!|trans-title=Black and white triumph, the Cup goes to Lugano!|language=Italian|publisher=[[Radiotelevisione svizzera]]|date=15 May 2022}}</ref>
==Notes and references== ===Notes=== {{notelist}}
===References=== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{Soccerway}}
{{FC Lugano squad}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saipi, Amir}} [[Category:2000 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Footballers from Schaffhausen]] [[Category:Men's association football goalkeepers]] [[Category:Kosovan men's footballers]] [[Category:Kosovo men's international footballers]] [[Category:Kosovan people of Bosniak descent]] [[Category:Swiss men's footballers]] [[Category:Switzerland men's youth international footballers]] [[Category:Switzerland men's under-21 international footballers]] [[Category:Swiss people of Kosovan descent]] [[Category:Swiss people of Albanian descent]] [[Category:Swiss people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent]] [[Category:2. Liga Interregional players]] [[Category:Swiss 1. Liga (football) players]] [[Category:FC Winterthur players]] [[Category:Grasshopper Club Zurich players]] [[Category:Challenge League (Switzerland) players]] [[Category:FC Schaffhausen players]] [[Category:Swiss Super League players]] [[Category:FC Lugano players]] [[Category:21st-century Swiss sportsmen]]