Arsenal urge UEFA to guarantee Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s safety for Baku final
Arsenal have expressed concern that they have not yet received “acceptable guarantees” from UEFA that their midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan will be safe to travel to Baku for the Europa League final, The Guardian reported.
The source reminds that when Arsenal played in Azerbaijan in their opening group game the Armenian midfielder was omitted because of the conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh.
“The safety and security of our players is of paramount importance,” said an Arsenal spokesperson. “We are seeking guarantees from UEFA that it will be safe for Henrikh Mkhitaryan to travel to Baku for the Europa League final, which both Arsenal and Micki require for him to be included within our squad.
“Acceptable guarantees have not been received yet, and we hope that UEFA will be able to supply these promptly. We are of course hugely concerned that the location of the final could lead to Micki not being able to play in a European final.”
UEFA’s standard procedure is to send letters of support to associations, clubs, or embassies to facilitate visas for foreign travel if needed, the paper wrote.