On May 9 Arsenal defeated Valencia in the Europa League second-leg match and earned a ticket with 7-3 aggregate victory to the final of the competition.
The Gunners will take on London rivals Chelsea for the trophy and the final will be played at Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
Following Arsenal’s second leg win over Valencia almost all the European publications started questioning the same topic, - if Armenian international Henrikh Mkhitaryan will travel to Baku for the Europa League final.
But why Henrikh Mkhitaryan is restricted from travelling to Baku?
Azerbaijan have banned Armenians from entering the country over tensions between the bordering rivals, with the Center for political Freddom stating: “Citizens of the Republic of Armenia, as well as citizens of any other country who are of Armenian descent, are forbidden entry to the Republic of Azerbaijan.
“If a person’s passport shows any evidence of travel to Nagorno-Karabakh, barring a diplomatic passport, they are forbidden entry to the Republic of Azerbaijan.”
Moreover, the citizens of any countries having Armenian surnames have almost no chance to travel to Azerbaijan.
However, UEFA have recently issued a statement claiming that they will help Arsenal with Henrikh Mkhitaryan visa for potential Europa League final.
But the final decision is still hanging in the air as it belongs to the Azerbaijani Government.
The truth is that the Azerbaijani organizers who took up the organization of such a great sports event should not mix politics with sports.
Even during the Olympic games wars between countries are stopped.
25 Armenian athletes who could cross the Azerbaijani board.
For the European Games 2015 that were held in Baku, 25 athletes from Armenia were presented. After the tournament the former head of National Olympic Committee Hrachia Rostomyan claimed that he was satisfied with the safety of the athletes as all the issues were completely solved.
Arsenal will face Chelsea in the Europa League final in Baku on May 29.
