Official: Henrikh Mkhitaryan won’t play in Europa League final
Despite the efforts of UEFA to guarantee his safety, Henrikh Mkhitaryan won’t be travelling to Baku for the Europa League final amidst safety concerns.
Arsenal fans’ worst fears were confirmed today, when Henrikh Mkhitaryan announced that he would not be travelling to Baku to take part in the Europa League final against Chelsea, due to safety concerns regarding his Armenian heritage.
Political tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan are to blame for this unfortunate situation, which leaves one of Arsenal’s key players at home while the team plays one of their most important matches of the decade.
Actually, should both Arsenal and Chelsea boycott the final over Mkhitaryan? Imagine if this was Hazard not being able to travel to Baku or an English player. It's disgusting.
— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) May 21, 2019
Politics should never interfere with football, and the fact that a player is fearing for his own safety in a large European final means that UEFA needs to be held accountable. The fact that the stadium holds 65,000 and only 6,000 tickets have been allocated to Chelsea and Arsenal is another sign that this city and stadium is not suitable to host such a large match, especially with reports that the airport can’t handle the amount of people that would be coming in. Just a reminder that Baku is also co-hosting Euro 2020 next summer with a quarter-final scheduled to be held there.
Arsenal released a statement on Tuesday regarding the situation:
"“We have thoroughly explored all the options for Micki to be part of the squad but after discussing this with Micki and his family we have collectively agreed he will not be in our travelling party.”"
While Mkhitaryan isn’t exactly a star player, Arsenal will greatly miss his experience in this competition along with his qualities in possession – the Gunners are already lacking wingers in their squad, and to be without one of their starters in that position could be costly.
Mkhitaryan has previously won the Europa League with Manchester United in 2017, in a tournament which saw him finish runner-up for best player, and make the best XI.
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This Europa League final is Arsenal’s only remaining chance of qualifying for next seasons Champions League, along with being a great opportunity for them to win their first European trophy. It is of massive importance to the club, and it’s unfortunate that politics is preventing one of their key players from playing his part.