The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Must Respond to the Situation Surrounding Mkhitaryan: Marukyan

The head of the "Bright Armenia" faction in the National Assembly, Edmon Marukyan, wrote on his Facebook page that the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is obliged to respond to the situation surrounding Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

In his post, it is stated:

“It is hard to imagine that the participation of any football player in any game taking place in Europe could be made impossible due to national affiliation. It is known that this year’s UEFA Europa League final is scheduled to be held in Baku, where the English clubs Arsenal and Chelsea will contest the champion's title. It has been revealed that Arsenal’s midfielder and captain of the Armenia national team, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, is forced to miss a match that many professional football players around the world dream of participating in due to security concerns.

Azerbaijan has refused to grant entry visas to Arsenal’s fans with Armenian surnames. The prospect of Mkhitaryan missing this historic match has already been described as a disgrace by the entire football community, with thousands of fans and experts suggesting a boycott of the game and not traveling to Baku.

We are all caught in a situation that is disgraceful for UEFA. It is absurd that Armenian diplomacy has not responded to this issue so far, while international media have issued harsh critical statements directed at UEFA and official Baku.

The “Bright Armenia” party will consistently raise this highly sensitive issue on all international platforms, and at the same time, we call on the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Football Federation of Armenia, and the EU delegation in Armenia to take all possible measures to protect the rights of our compatriot and professional football player Henrikh Mkhitaryan.”