Arsenal player, Henrikh Mkhitaryan might miss out on the Europa League final against Chelsea in Baku, Azerbaijan.
This is because there are no diplomatic relations between his country Armenia and Azerbaijan caused by a longstanding conflict over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
This might make him miss the all-English final scheduled for Wednesday, 29 May (20:00 BST).
This is not the first time Mkhitaryan has missed games in Azerbaijan for Arsenal and former club Dortmund in recent years.
In 2015, the Armenian captain did not travel to Azerbaijan for a Europa League tie with Borussia Dortmund because of security concerns.
The 39-year old also missed Arsenal’s 3-0 Europa League win at FK Qarabag in October.
According to manager Unai Emery: “he cannot travel here”, despite Uefa offering their support over a visa application. Qarabag head coach Gurban Gurbanov, however claimed Arsenal had “tried to save” Mkhitaryan from the “pressure” of playing in Azerbaijan.
“If Henrikh Mkhitaryan would come to Azerbaijan it is not the first time – a lot of Armenian sportsmen came to Azerbaijan but it is the choice of Arsenal that they didn’t send him.
“Arsenal may be afraid that in front of 60,000 Azerbaijani fans, Mkhitaryan has some pressure and that is why they didn’t send Mkhitaryan.”
When asked if Mkhitaryan would travel for the final, Emery had previously said:
“It’s a long time for us to arrive at the final.
“We are working to prepare for the next matches.”
