Mkhitaryan pulls out of the Europa League final as UEFA continues to trip over itself

Henrikh Mkhitaryan missing the Europa League final is the latest and most significant fallout from UEFA’s questionable decision making.

Taking its cue from FIFA, which awarded Qatar the 2022 World Cup, ignoring the nation’s extensive human rights abuses, and the interests of players and fans, UEFA awarded the 2019 Europa League final to a venue in a country that owns one of  worst ratings for freedom and civil liberties in the world.

Perhaps it should come as no surprise that the European soccer governing body chose to cozy up to a despotic regime to the detriment of players’ safety and in spite of a logistical nightmare posed by selecting Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, as the location for the 2019 Europa League final.

To make matters worse, UEFA already had the chance to fix this unfortunate decision regarding the final venue, having been faced with this same situation in October 2018, when Arsenal played in Baku against Qarabag during the group stage. Unsurprisingly, Mkhitaryan stayed away from Baku then.

In the months since, UEFA could have come up with a plan in case Arsenal — one of the big favorites in the competition — made the final. Also unsurprisingly, UEFA had no interest in coming up with a contingency plan to avoid what has turned out into a logistical and PR nightmare.

Presumably, the last straw for Arsenal’s Armenian midfielder came on Monday, when Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Tahir Taghizadeh, said that the Arsenal player would be safe as long as he “stuck to sports” while in the country. Perhaps Mkhitaryan could have lived with the Azeri rendition of the “shut up and dribble” talking point. However, Taghizadeh went a step further and added “if you want to play the issue then that’s a different story.”

While this may have played well with the “stick to sports” crowd, it wasn’t exactly a reassuring comment for the player within the context of a serious geopolitical matter that can have literal life-and-death consequences.

If UEFA’s ultimate intent is to  avoid controversy and promote the product on the field, the simple, easy and viable solution is to avoid any such controversial decisions regarding tournament finals venues in the first place. Mkhitaryan didn’t ask for any of this. This wouldn’t have even been an issue of the game was taking place in any other other city or country not under an authoritarian, despotic rule. There are plenty of options in UEFA’s other member nations.

You have to question UEFA’s calculus in deciding that this particular location was the right one for a major tournament final; in its constant quest for new markets, more exposure and ultimately worshipping at the altar of the mighty dollar (Azerbaijan is one of the top exporters of natural gas and oil), soccer governing bodies continue to trip over themselves and damage their relationship with players and fans. Let’s hope that Mkhitaryan’s decision is not just the latest unfortunate chapter in UEFA’s public relations quagmire, but rather serves as a lesson for better decision-making in the future.