Arsenal have expressed concerns that they have not received “acceptable guarantees” from Uefa that midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan will be safe to travel to Azerbaijian for the Europa League final in three weeks.
Political tensions currently remain high between Armenia, Mkhitaryan’s national side of which he captains, and Azerbaijan, over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. There are no diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Mhhitaryan has previously missed trips to Azerbaijan for both Arsenal and former club Dortmund over concerns for his safety.
"The safety and security of all of our players is of paramount importance," an Arsenal spokesperson said.
"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."
The midfielder had sat out Arsenal’s 3-0 win over FC Qarabag in October, though the decision to omit him was a mutual one between player and manager.
Arsenal beat Valencia 2-4 in the second leg of their semi-final tie on Thursday night to set up a meeting with London rivals Chelsea in the final.
