Azerbaijan denies visas for British-Armenian Arsenal fans

Azerbaijan denies visas for British-Armenian Arsenal fans

PanARMENIAN.Net - Arsenal have held talks with the Foreign Office in an attempt to help a number of British-Armenian season-ticket holders who have been denied a visa required to attend the Europa League final against Chelsea in Baku, The Times reports.

The club are seeking to ascertain whether any pressure can be put on the Azerbaijan government to make an exception for fans who are likely to miss the final as a result of the stand-off with Armenia, countries who have severed diplomatic relations due to a conflict over Nagorno Karabakh.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Arsenal’s Armenia midfield player, has been granted special dispensation on sporting grounds to receive a visa, but the club have yet to decide whether he will be included in Unai Emery’s squad for Baku.

Meanwhile, Uefa are set to confirm whether they will meet the security requirements requested by Arsenal to ensure Mkhitaryan can play in the Europa League Final.

This was also the case for Arsenal’s Europa League group stage game against Qarabag last October but a decision was taken against him travelling to Baku on security grounds.

Talks are ongoing between Arsenal and Uefa. A delegation from the club was in Azerbaijan on Wednesday discussing logistics for the final at Baku’s Olympic Stadium with Uefa officials and counterparts from Chelsea.

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