Gary Lineker has responded with a two-word verdict saying “Good heavens” after it was announced that Arsenal player Henrikh Mkhitaryan would not travel to Baku for the final of the Europa League.
Arsenal had asked for reassurance from UEFA that it would be safe for Mkhitaryan to travel to Azerbaijan for the final.
However, in a statement the club said, “We have thoroughly explored all the options for Micki to be part of the squad but after discussing this with Micki and his family we have collectively agreed he will not be in our travelling party.
“We have written to UEFA expressing our deep concerns about this situation. Micki has been a key player in our run to the final so this is a big loss for us from a team perspective.”
It’s the second time this season that Mkhitaryan has had to miss a game in Azerbaijan due to ongoing conflicts between them and Armenia.
Big names in the football world queued up to give their verdict on the decision, with Collymore saying “So we’re at the stage where a player can’t ply his trade, in a final no less, because the oil cheque to UEFA was too big to be concerned with player or supporter welfare.”
So we're at the stage where a player can't ply his trade, in a Final no less, because the oil cheque to UEFA was too big to be concerned with player or supporter welfare.
Players and supporters becoming peripheral in their own sport.
— Stan Collymore (@StanCollymore) May 21, 2019
Gary Lineker simply said, “Good heavens”, while Ian Wright dubbed it an “absolute disgrace” and said UEFA didn’t care about fans or players.
Good heavens: https://t.co/PjEIkljyIr
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) May 21, 2019
Absolute disgrace from @UEFA. How is this allowed to happen?! ????? It's all lip service!!! You don't actually care about the fans or the players!! https://t.co/9MPDQPjD7M
— Ian Wright (@IanWright0) May 21, 2019
OPINION
This is a dark cloud over football. How can you hold a major final in a country where the safety of a player can’t be guaranteed? And a team has to do without one of its stars? Wright is correct, it’s a disgrace and UEFA need to take a long look at some of their policies. The safety of footballers should always come first and no team should be forced to put out a weakened side because of ongoing conflicts. Collymore said the cheque was too big for UEFA to turn down and Wright has said that the organisation doesn’t care about fans or players. They’re pretty big accusations and it’s hard to see what UEFA could say that would mitigate them. They haven’t responded to the Arsenal statement yet but they should do and soon – and it’s not going to be enough to just pay lip service to it and say that they’re disappointed with the decision that’s been reached. This shouldn’t have happened but it should never happen again going forward. Sadly, when it comes to UEFA we don’t hold out much confidence in that.