Arsene Wenger joins criticism of Uefa over Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s Baku decision

Former Arsenal head coach Arsene Wenger has joined criticism over Europa League final’s venue as well as commented on Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s decision  not to play in the final. The Armenia international will not travel to Baku with the rest of the squad due to his county’s ongoing conflict with Azerbaijan, while Armenian Arsenal and Chelsea supporters have also been denied visas to enter the country for next Wednesday’s final. It means that the 69,870-capacity Olympic Stadium is likely to be around half empty for the final, and Wenger believes Uefa are to blame for the situation being allowed to arise. "That's something that should not happen in football, in the modern world, that politically you cannot play a football game," Wenger said of Mkhitaryan. "I feel it's not normal that in 2019 - inside Europe, with very sophisticated democracies - that you cannot play for political reasons. "It's a little bit of a nightmare. It's the same for both teams, always. A final is a final. I don't think it will affect them. "The teams do not have such a problem, they live in ideal conditions, they have a private jet, they have nice business seats. It's the fans."

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