Henrikh Mkhitaryan 'guaranteed' safety if he travels with Arsenal for Europa League Final in Baku, says ambassador

Limbo: Henrikh Mkhitaryan may miss the Europa League final in Baku next week
Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Joe Krishnan21 May 2019

Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been assured he will be kept safe if he travels with the Arsenal squad to Baku for the Europa League Final against Chelsea.

The Armenia international's participation in the match is in doubt due to concerns over the dispute between his nation and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The Gunners have been liaising with Uefa about a security strategy for the 30-year-old and Mkhitaryan has been given special dispensation to receive a visa for the game on May 29.

But Azerbaijan's ambassador to the UK, Tahir Taghizadeh, believes that Mkhitaryan will be safe from any threat of violence if he travels.

Asked if he would contact the midfielder, Mr Taghizadeh told Sky Sports: "Absolutely. I would be delighted for him to have a conversation with me.

Arsenal left Henrikh Mkhitaryan behind for their trip to Baku earlier this season 
Getty Images

"This is a Class A event, if our purpose is to play political games around it it is something different, you are being paid as a footballer not a politician, let's leave other issues aside.

"My message to Mkhitaryan would be: you're a footballer, you want to play football? Go to Baku, you are safe there. If you want to play the issue then that's a different story.

"What I can guarantee is that the Azerbaijan government will do everything what needs to be done and provide safety and security for every fan, player and staff member coming to this game."

Mkhitaryan was left out of Arsenal's squad for their Europa League group stage match against FK Qarabag in October and could well miss out on the showpiece event.

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Arsenal released a statement earlier this month criticising the lack of security afforded to their player. It read: “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.”

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