LAST UPDATE | 21 May 2019
ARSENAL HAVE ANNOUNCED that Henrikh Mkhitaryan will not be travelling to Azerbaijan with their squad for next week’s Europa League final due to safety concerns.
Doubts had been cast over the Armenian playmaker’s involvement in the clash with Chelsea on 29 May.
Political tensions between his homeland and Azerbaijan had raised concerns over the impact his presence in the showpiece event could have.
Mkhitaryan was left out of Arsenal’s squad for a trip to Qarabag earlier in the season, for a group stage encounter in October, and today the club revealed that he will not be involved in the final.
"We're very disappointed to announce that @HenrikhMkh will not be travelling with the squad for our #UELfinal against Chelsea."
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) May 21, 2019
Full statement 👇
“We are very disappointed to announce that Henrikh Mkhitaryan will not be travelling with the squad for our Uefa Europa League final against Chelsea.
“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.
“We have written to Uefa expressing our deep concerns about this situation. Micki has been a key player in our run to the final so this is a big loss for us from a team perspective.
“We’re also very sad that a player will miss out on a major European final in circumstances such as this, as it is something that comes along very rarely in a footballer’s career.
“Micki will continue to be part of our preparations until we depart for Baku at the weekend.”
Mkihtaryan had been assured by Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the United Kingdom that it was perfectly safe for him to travel with Arsenal to Baku for the Europa League final.
Tahir Taghizadeh had claimed their fears are unfounded.
He told Sky Sports when asked if he planned to contact Mkhitaryan: “Absolutely. I would be delighted for him to have a conversation with me.
“This is a Class A event. If our purpose is to play political games around it, it is something different. You are being paid as a footballer, not a politician. Let’s leave other issues aside.
“My message to Mkhitaryan would be: you’re a footballer, you want to play football? Go to Baku, you are safe there. If you want to play the issue then that’s a different story.
“What I can guarantee is that the Azerbaijan government will do everything that needs to be done and provide safety and security for every fan, player and staff member coming to this game.”
Arsenal boss Unai Emery admitted after a final day outing against Burnley in the Premier League that he has no idea whether Mkhitaryan will form part of his plans in the pursuit of major silverware.
“It’s political issues and I don’t know what the solution is. We want to play with every player, he worked very well [against Burnley], and we’ll do all we can to play with every player and with him, but I don’t know the possibility [of playing] with him and the political issues.
“I don’t know what the problem is between the two countries but we’ll do all we can to be with Mkhitaryan there. It’s not only a sporting issue. It’s not in my hands, I don’t understand what the solution is.”
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Disgrace by uefa to have the final in Baku in the 1st place. No doubt they got a fair few Euro’s for that call.
@kev egan:
Why is UEFA a disgrace? Because Arsenal fans say it is?
@Just Some Guy: he said why above?!
@Colm O’Donnell: for having the final in Baku?
@Just Some Guy: for having anything at all in that country: just as many reasons to boycott it as there were to boycott the Eurovision in Israel, yet they keep getting awarded sports events. I wonder why.
@Just Some Guy: For allowing it to take place in a country where a player cannot actually play as it would be unsafe. Daft question
@Alonso:
So UEFA should move the final somewhere else just to suit one player? Arsenal, Chelsea and other teams who took part knew well the final was in Baku.
@Just Some Guy: Are you actually serious? If it’s unsafe for mhikitaryn then clearly by him travelling he would be putting the LIVES of everyone on the team bus in danger not to mention the unrest it would cause the locals and the subsequent potential danger for travelling fans..I might also make the point that uefa only offered Chelsea and arsenal 20% ticket allocation to a near 70000 seater stadium..are you going to defend this aswell..or perhaps the fact that there is NO direct flight to Baku and the people that can travel are paying thousands to support their team..uefa are rotten to the core absolutely stinks of backhanders and there is no defending them
@kev egan: all the finals cant be in England
@tubbsyf: where did I say that they had to be!! Somewhere easily accessible for fans that doesn’t have safety risks for players from certain countries would be minimum ask tho…..
@tubbsyf: Azerbaijan is not in Europe.
@Michael: nobody has to pay thousands to go abroad to see a team play football. It’s a choice. Personally I’d spend the money on something else. The low allocation (20%) probably reflects the low turnout of traveling fans expected. And the whole “supporting their team” thing is all a bit lame. Unless you’re Stan Kroenke you can’t call it your team and even then he is just the majority shareholder of Arsenal holdings.
It’s a joke that Arsenal were forced into this decision. Why are UEFA hosting a final in a place where the safety of players can’t be guaranteed? Wasn’t Aleksandr Ceferin supposed to be cleaning up UEFA after Platini? It’s actually gotten worse. Mkhitaryan has scored against Chelsea this season and in a previous Europa League Final. What would happen If it the boot was on the other foot and it was Chelsea and, say, Eden Hazard? They’d probably up the ante by boycotting the final – which they could more afford to do as they’ve already qualified for next season’s Champions League.
@GOOПΞɌΛDΛM: more of a joke how it’s being referred to as “major” European final in the article. Baku is right place for it
@GOOПΞɌΛDΛM: but they have guaranteed his safety, what more do you expect them to do?
@Vocal Outrage: They absolutely have not..
@Michael: I would suggest you re-read the article, they have said they will guarantee their safety. My question, which I believe valid in this context, what else do they need to do beyond actually saying they will guarantee? Is that not the very definition of a guarantee?
@Vocal Outrage: I would suggest that YOU re-read the article the UK ambassador in Azerbaijan literally said “if you want to play the issue then that’s a different story.” Haha does that actually sound reassuring or anything near a guarantee to you?! Wise up kid
Here’s a mad idea – why don’t we hold European Finals in Europe instead of in oil-rich Central Asian countries with no football?
@Brendan Moriarty: technically, part of Azerbaijan is part of Europe. Azerbaijan, along with Georgia, Russia, France, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy and Turkey are transcontinental countries. If we are to exclude countries because part, or all, of their territories lie outside of Europe, then Spain (part), France (part), Portugal (part), Greece (part), Italy (part), Cyprus (all), Israel (all), Turkey (most), Georgia (part), Azerbaijan (part), Russia (part) and Kazakhstan (part) would all be disqualified.
@Brian Ó Dálaigh: what part of spain is not in Europe?
@Ken MacEoin: The exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla sit on the African mainland. The islands of the Canaries are geographically in Africa, too, although, obviously, not the African mainland.
@Ken MacEoin: Ceuta, Melilla and the Canaries
@Ken MacEoin: as for Portugal, Madeira (birthplace of Ronaldo) is in Africa and parts of the Azores are in North America.
@Ken MacEoin: Cueta
Looked up flights to genuinely see if it’s possible to go and cheapest was 1400 absolute joke !! Also only allocating 6000 tickets aswell for security reasons they should have it in Wembley where they are more than able to handle that!! Politics ruining football again no doubt there was a brown bag for Baku a place I never heard of before
@Gavin Lynam:
Wembley? Just because two London teams qualified for the final? Give over.
@Just Some Guy: Yes in Wembley! and it could happen if both teams had the ballls to boycott the game and stick it to UEFA
@Gavin Lynam: nobody cares about the Europa League. My advice is to watch it in a pub and spend your money wisely on beer and nuts. You should have enough left over to buy an overpriced Arsenal replica jersey which you can wear and pretend you’re one of the players and run around the garden like a little boy in a Batman suit.
Imagine Messi or Ronaldo weren’t able to play in a final because UEFA couldn’t guarantee their safety.
Think this is a bit OTT from the Arsenal / Miki camp.
@John Lewis Hamilton: Have a read of this and see if you feel the same way.
https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/bmwdnu/why_mkhitaryan_will_most_likely_not_go_to_the/
If a Armenian team had of reached the final(very unlikely i know) where would it have been played???
I personally think Liverpool will win their 6th European Cup
When are Ueafa going to see common sense and wait till after the semi finals before they announce venues for the final. In my opinion both European finals should be in Wembley. If it was a final between a Spanish team and German team play it in Paris or a final between an English team and Italian team play it in Germany. Makes more sense
Hes not very good anyways
For Christ’s sake! Why do the journal post the actual tweet and then repeat the whole tweet in the body of the article? Does the article have to have a minimum amount of words?
Delighted it there. Should move liverpool and spurs their to. Then disconnect their broadcasting stations so we dont have to list to english broadcasters. UP THE GAA
Probably a silly question but can english teams still qualify for Europa after brexit?
@Paddy O Rourke: Not a silly question. Brexit is to do with the European Union, not UEFA. Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Turkish, Israeli, Cypriot, Ukrainian teams, etc all currently play in UEFA, despite not being part of the EU. So, yes, they can continue to qualify for any European tournament that they currently qualify for.