ArmInfo.Azerbaijan, as a country hosting the UEFA Europa League final, guaranteed the safety of all players, including Heinrikh Mkhitaryan, but he refused to go to Baku.
According to haqqin.az, Hikmet Hajiyev, head of the foreign policy department of the presidential administration of Azerbaijan, said this in an interview with the leading Italian media in connection with the final of the European League in Baku.
At the same time, Hajiyev declared the inadmissibility of the politicization of football. "Football must be promoted and developed in all UEFA member countries," he said.
According to Hajiyev, this game will be one of the most interesting in the history of UEFA, and for the convenience and safety of the fans who came to Baku, all measures have been taken.
Answering the question about the conflict, he said that it's wrong to look for a connection between this conflict, the match held in Baku and the ethnic origin of Mkhitaryan.
Hajiyev added that an information war is being waged against Azerbaijan.
According to the source, an interview with Hikmet Hajiyev was published by the Italian editions of Sole 24 Ore, Libero Quotidiano, Il Tempo, Affari Italiani, Il Fogliettone, Quotidiano, Corriere di Siena, Corriere di Rieti, Corriere di Arezzo, Corriere di Viterbo, Corriere dell'Umbira, Unione Sarda, Virgilio, Yahoo Notizie.
To note, earlier, Arsenal officially announced that Henrikh Mkhitaryan will not help the team in the Europa League final in Baku. This was due to the fact that the host party did not provide sufficient security guarantees to Mkhitaryan, who has Armenian roots.
Armenia, the citizen of which Heinrikh is, is in a state of conflict with Azerbaijan over the territorial affiliation of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Azerbaijani authorities do not issue visas to Armenians for entry, although earlier it was reported that the Foreign Ministry is ready to go to meet Mkhitaryan and ensure his participation in the final game. Mkhitaryan had previously missed matches in Azerbaijan twice - this season he did not take part in the LE group stage match with "Karabakh", and earlier, playing for Borussia, could not play with Gabala.