Today Henrikh Mkhitaryan announced that he would not travel to Baku for the Europa League final with Arsenal to face Chelsea due to ongoing political tensions and fears over his safety. This should never have been allowed to happen by UEFA, but when has UEFA ever done the right thing?
On Twitter, Mkhitaryan said it was a "tough decision" and it "hurts" a lot. Arsenal also issued a statement, stating they "thoroughly explored all options" for Mkhitaryan to play and have expressed their "deepest concerns" with UEFA on the entire issue.
On Twitter, Mkhitaryan said it was a "tough decision" and it "hurts" a lot. Arsenal also issued a statement, stating they "thoroughly explored all options" for Mkhitaryan to play and have expressed their "deepest concerns" with UEFA on the entire issue.
To fully understand the whole situation, you must understand why there is friction between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The hostilities date back to 1988 and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The war between Azerbaijan (supported by Turkey and Pakistan) and Armenia started in 1988, as Karabakh Armenians demanded Karabakh be part of Soviet Armenia not Soviet Azerbaijan, and its main phase lasted until 1994. A cease-fire was signed in 1994 and provided stability for over 20 years. Tensions have increased as of 2016 with a Four-Day War with multiple deaths throughout the past three decades.
Mkhitaryan missed Arsenal's earlier match against Qarabag for the same reasons, however, due to the increased magnitude of a final, the situation at hand has been magnified. Azerbaijan should not have been allowed to host a final of a European competition. UEFA would have been aware of the tensions between the two nations and should have vetoed Baku's bid.
The declaration of who hosts the final must take place two years in advance, but that is not an excuse. Tensions have been present for over 30 years. Any country that has any political problems with other countries should not be permitted to host. Of course, when awarded the final back in September 2017, it was never known that Mkhitaryan would be involved in the final - he wasn't even at Arsenal. However, as previously stated, that is not an a reason for UEFA allowing this to happen. They should've moved the final to a safer place. A player should not have to miss a football match for political reasons.
A similar situation occurred with Xherdan Shaqiri this seasn. The Swiss, of Kosovan descent, was forced to miss Liverpool's trip to Red Star Belgrade over fears of his safety. After scoring for Switzerland in the World Cup against Serbia, Shaqiri celebrated by gesturing an eagle with hands - a direct reference to the Albanian flag and political tensions between Albania and Serbia. Once again, UEFA did nothing to prevent the Shaqiri from missing the match.
Baku, as well as politically, has social reasons for why the match should not be played there. Baku International Airport only has the capacity to hold 15,000 people at once. Therefore, UEFA thought it was appropriate to give Arsenal and Chelsea an allocation of 6,000 each in a stadium that holds 69,870, with Chelsea expected not to sell half. What makes Baku's bid even more unbelievable is that also bid to host the Champions League final. It's ridiculous.
UEFA need to start taking action on these matters. It is unaccpetbale that a player should miss a European final and that fans only get 17.2% of the tickets. Arsenal should boycott the game, Chelsea too. The only way to make a stand against this situation is to refuse to participate. Otherwise, it seems like UEFA's actions will never have consequences.
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