YEREVAN, MAY 22, ARMENPRESS. London’s Arsenal FC captain Laurent Koscielny has denounced holding the Europa League final in Baku after teammate Henrikh Mkhitaryan confirmed he will miss the match.

Koscielny, the Arsenal captain, told BBC Radio 5 Live that countries with such conflicts should not be able to host European finals.

“I am not very happy,” Koscielny said. “First because we need to leave one player here, because he can’t play in the final.

“I think Uefa needs to know about the different problems they can have with the politics in the country. When one country has a problem with another they should not give the final to that country.

“For us it is difficult because we want to have Micki with us. He is an important player for us.”

Armenian international Henrikh Mkhitaryan will not be traveling to Baku for the Arsenal vs. Chelsea Europa League finale due to safety concerns over political reasons between Armenia and Azerbaijan regarding the NK conflict.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan