Will the Armenian international play Europa League final in Baku, Azerbaijan?
There’s an aura of speculation that he may not because of his nationality. The midfielder has never played before in Azerbaijan, both for Dortmund or Arsenal.
Arsenal have already travelled to Azerbaijan once this season in October when they faced Qarabag and came back with a 3-0 win. The same Baku Olympic stadium is going to hold the finals of Europa League. And yet again the Armenian may not feature in Arsenal squad.
The reason for his not-being welcomed condition by Azerbaijan is the diplomatic relations that his parent nation holds with host of finals. Since the Nagorno-Karobakh war of 1994, there has been no political relation between these two. This means that an Azerbaijan national cannot get a visa to Armenia and vice versa.
However, UEFA has assured of trying to get Azerbaijan lift the ban on Henrikh Mkhitariyan and hence have applied for an exemption on his Visa procedure. This is all Uefa can do because the final decision to let him in still rests upon the Azerbaijan government and also on the midfielder himself, who on previous occasions have declined to plant a foot on Azeri land.
The club has also confirmed that if the feelings remain same, Henrikh may not feature in an all English Europa League final.
A club spokesman said: “We are seeking guarantees from Uefa that it will be safe for Henrikh Mkhitaryan to travel to Baku, which both Arsenal and Micki require.
“Acceptable guarantees have not yet been received and we hope that Uefa will be able to supply these promptly.
“The safety and security of our players is of paramount importance and we are hugely concerned that the location of the game could lead to Micki not being able to play in a European final.”
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