With Arsenal and Chelsea confirmed as Europa League finalists after their victories over Valencia and Eintracht Frankfurt respectively, the realities of the final in Baku have come into clearer focus.
Not only are fans contending with long flights covering almost 3,000 miles with potentially arduous stopovers and connections in airports from Istanbul to Kiev – there are no direct scheduled flights available between London and Baku on the week of the final – they are also facing spiralling costs for tickets and transport, however they choose to travel.
The fastest route by car passes through the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine, currently an active warzone, while a train journey from London to Baku would include around 11 changes and take two days at least. On top of that Uefa have allocated Arsenal and Chelsea around 6,000 tickets each, with 37,500 going on general sale and the rest going to assorted bureaucrats, commercial partners and corporate interests.
Then there’s the fact that Azerbaijan is ranked 166th out of 180 in the 2019 World Press Freedom Index. Human Rights Watch describe their human rights record as “appalling”, while Football Supporters Europe have flagged the “repressive atmosphere” for football fans and the government’s extremely poor record on LGBT rights.
On top of all that, it now looks as if Henrikh Mkhitaryan may have to miss the game because, according to Arsenal, Uefa have not been able to provide “acceptable guarantees” over his safety.
Why are there safety fears over Mkhitaryan in Baku?
Born in Yerevan, just over 400 miles away from Baku, Mkhitaryan is by far and away the most famous footballer in Armenia. He has won the Armenian Footballer of the Year Award a record eight times, having started his career in his home country with FC Pyunik.
International relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan are extremely poor. An ethnic and territorial conflict known as the Nagorno-Karabakh War broke out between the two neighbouring states – both former Soviet republics – in the late eighties and went on until 1994. Though there was a ceasefire, a peace treaty has not been forthcoming and there have been sporadic border skirmishes between the two countries ever since.
With the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict ongoing, Armenia and Azerbaijan have no official diplomatic relations. Armenian citizens and those of Armenian descent are routinely denied entry to Azerbaijan, though the Azerbaijani government has previously granted exceptions for sporting events.
Fiery nationalist rhetoric on both sides since the Nagorno-Karabakh War has fuelled ethnic tensions between Armenians and Azerbaijanis. That has provoked fears over Mkhitaryan’s safety, even presuming he is granted a visa and can travel to Baku.
Mkhitaryan has sat out trips to Azerbaijan before with both Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund. Earlier this season, at the Europa League group stage, he was left at home as Arsenal ran out 3-0 winners against Azerbaijani champions Qarabag in Baku.
What have Arsenal said about the situation?
After Arsenal’s place in the final was confirmed, a club spokesperson made the following statement on the Mkhitaryan situation:
“The safety and security of all of our players is of paramount importance. 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.”
What is the expected outcome?
Arsenal clearly feel there is a serious possibility that Mkhitaryan could miss the Europa League final. Charles Watts, Arsenal correspondent for Goal, has said that “Arsenal are probably going to have to have a key player miss the final”, while The Telegraph have gone with the line: “Arsenal plan to leave Henrikh Mkhitaryan out of Europa League final squad unless Uefa provide safety assurances.”
Speaking after Arsenal’s 3-1 win at Burnley on the final day of the Premier League season, Unai Emery seemed to be holding out hope that Mkhitaryan would feature. “It is a political issue but I don’t know well what the solution is,” he said.
“But we want to play with Mkhitaryan. Today he worked very well and we are ready to do all we can do to play with him. I don’t know the possibility with the political issue.
“Really, I don’t know what the problem is between the two countries but we are going to do all we can to have Mkhitaryan there. This issue is not sporting. It is not in my hands. I don’t understand what the solution is.”
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