English side, Arsenal, have announced that forward, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, will miss the final of the Europa League in Azerbaijan due to safety fears for him.
The decision was taken because of political tensions between the host country and Mkhitaryan’s native country over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Arsenal announced the decision in a statement on Tuesday.
“We have thoroughly explored all the options for Micki to be part of the squad but after discussing this with Micki and his family we have collectively agreed he will not be in our travelling party.
We have written to Uefa expressing our deep concerns about this situation. Micki has been a key player in our run to the final so this is a big loss for us from a team perspective,” the statement read in parts.
The former Manchester United man admitted he is “hurt” to miss the showpiece event. He tweeted: “Having considered all the current options, we had to take the tough decision for me not to travel with the squad to the UEL Final against Chelsea.
“It’s the kind of game that doesn’t come along very often for us players and I must admit, it hurts me a lot to miss it. I will be cheering my teammates on! Let’s bring it home Arsenal.”
