Arsene Wenger: Baku Europa League final is 'a nightmare' for Arsenal and Chelsea fans

The Europa League final in Baku is “a nightmare” for Arsenal and Chelsea fans, former head coach of Arsenal FC Arsene Wenger has said in an interview with The Telegraph. The Frenchman has said that he remained a fan of his former club, who play Chelsea in the final in Azerbaijan on Wednesday. He will not be in Baku for the final and said that for the supporters it was “a little bit of a nightmare”. Both clubs have been unable to sell out their ticket allocation because of Baku’s inaccessibility and Arsenal have publicly criticised the decision to award the city the final.
 

On the subject of Mkhitaryan – who has elected in consultation with Arsenal not to play the final because of security concerns – Wenger was unequivocal. “That’s something that should not happen in football, in the modern world,” he said. “[When] Politically, you cannot play a football game.”
 

To remind, earlier Arsenal fans started a petition to get the Europa League final moved from Baku to Wembley. Armenian forward Henrikh Mkhitaryan decided to stay at home over fear he could be targeted because of the long conflict. Fans of both Arsenal and Chelsea were already angry the final was being held in Azerbaijan, a nation nearly 3,000 miles away that they would be allocated only 6,000 tickets each.

The petition, set up by an Arsenal fan, has called on fans of both the Gunners and Blues to sign.