UEFA really have got a hard on for Arsenal it seems, not only have they treated both our fans and Chelsea fans abysmally, not only are they content with having our team weakened by their ludicrous decision to hold a major European final in a politically charged country like Azerbaijan, now they want to stop Arsenal from recognising one of their own players who is unable to play in that final.
The Arsenal players wanted to have the name of Henrikh Mkhitaryan name on the back of their shirts for the warm-up, but nope, that is apparently against their rules and they have basically put a ban in place.
Now, we are not talking about a political statement here, we are not talking about some sort of sponsorship or even a message with social connotations, no, we are talking about Arsenal players having the name of an Arsenal player on their shirts in the pre-match warm up.
This is a ridiculous stance for UEFA to take, it is 100% their fault why Mkhitaryan cannot play, it is 100% their fault why Arsenal and Chelsea have had to return tickets, it is 100% their fault that a country with an appalling human rights record is hosting the final, it is 100% their fault why Arsenal Armenian fans are being refused visa’s, in fact, it is 100% their fault why any Arsenal or Chelsea fans have to get visa’s in the first place.
I am not going to blame Azerbaijan for any of this, UEFA already knew well in advance the issues because of what happened earlier in the season when Arsenal played Qarabag, they already knew that hotel prices, air prices would be hiked massively, they already knew the very low capacity at Baku airport and yet they still went ahead with this joke of a location.
I am sure Azerbaijan is a lovely place and that the people are very welcoming but as a location for a major European Football final, it is not fit for purpose.
UEFA could have used common sense and allowed the Arsenal players to show solidarity with one of their teammates but nope, not that incompetent organisation who are far stricter on rules on T-shirts than they are at the gross racism aimed at players and corruption at the highest level of the game.