Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has expressed his astonishment that Henrikh Mkhitaryan won't be able to play in the Europa League final against Chelsea in Baku over fears for the Armenian international's safety, CNN reports.
Arsenal Manager: Henrikh Mkhitaryan case 'should not happen in football'
STEPANAKERT, MAY 24, ARTSAKHPRESS: Despite UEFA "guarantees" - after speaking to "the highest authorities in the country" - that the player would be safe, Arsenal opted to leave the midfielder behind.
"That's something that should not happen in football," Wenger, who brought Mkhitaryan to Arsenal, said in an interview on Thursday. "In the modern world, politically you cannot play a football game."
Azad Rahimov, Azerbaijan's minister of youth and sports, told CNN that the Azeri government provided two or three times as much paperwork than on any previous occasion for an athlete, and that there was nothing more they could do to give Mkhitaryan assurances over his safety.
