Armenian footballer's refusal to come to Baku raises issue on politicization of sports

While the security guarantees for Armenian athletes are definitely respected, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, a player of the "Arsenal" FC, has deliberately politicized his refusal to come to the UEFA Europa League Cup Final in Baku, state Azerbaijani experts. The football player's decision is dictated by political motives, confirm Armenian journalists.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan decided not to go to Baku to take part in a UEFA Europa League Cup Final match against Chelsea for security reasons: the Armenian footballer visited Nagorno-Karabakh without a permission of the Azerbaijani authorities and was put on the black list. Nevertheless, the authorities of Azerbaijan guaranteed him security and allowed him to enter the country to participate in the football match.

The Henrikh Mkhitaryan's refusal to participate in the football match is a political step, since there are no obstacles to his arrival in Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani experts believe.

Elkhan Mammadov, Secretary General of the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA), noted that over the past ten years, "many Armenian athletes took part in competitions in Azerbaijan without a single incident."

There were no incidents with Armenian athletes during competitions in Baku, confirmed Elmir Aliev, a sports commentator of the "Haqqin.az".

"The goals were different: to artificially raise a fuss and try to blacken Azerbaijan," believes Elmir Aliev.

Togrul Djuvarly, a member of the Azerbaijan National Public Committee for European Integration (ANPCEI), has recalled that Henrikh Mkhitaryan provided military assistance to Armenian fighters in Nagorno-Karabakh.