Henrikh Mkhitaryan is set to miss the Europa League final because of fears for the Armenian’s safety in Baku.
Arsenal said on Friday the club will seek “guarantees” from UEFA because of the ongoing conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Mkhitaryan has twice not travelled to play in Azerbaijan – first with Borussia Dortmund in 2015 and earlier this season when the Gunners played FK Qarabag.
And Arsenal are understood to be very reluctant to expose the former Manchester United playmaker to the security risk – even for a major European final.
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"The safety and security of all of our players is of paramount importance,” an Arsenal spokesperson said.
"We are seeking guarantees from UEFA that it will be safe for Henrikh Mkhitaryan to travel to Baku for the Europa League final, which both Arsenal and Micki require for him to be included within our squad.
"Acceptable guarantees have not been received yet, and we hope that UEFA will be able to supply these promptly.
"We are of course hugely concerned that the location of the final could lead to Micki not being able to play in a European final."
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UEFA, meanwhile, has defended the allocation of tickets for the Europa League final in Baku, claiming it would not be responsible to issue Chelsea and Arsenal fans more tickets.
Both Arsenal and Chelsea will receive 6,000 tickets for the final in Baku's Olympic Stadium - which has an official capacity of 68,700.
The statement said: "Based on UEFA's recent experience with UEFA Europa League finals and the UEFA Super Cup in comparable venues, the number of finalists' supporters requesting tickets for a UEFA Europa League final can vary greatly from club to club.
"Of course, it is impossible to predict in advance which clubs will reach the final, while the venue has to be chosen around two years in advance.
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"Taking into consideration the above and, most importantly, the geographical location and logistical capacity of airports in and around the host city, it was deemed that around 15,000 spectators would be able to travel from abroad.
"Offering more tickets to fans of the participating teams, without any guarantee that they would be able to arrange suitable travel to reach Baku, was therefore not a responsible option.
"Based on these circumstances, for this year's UEFA Europa League final in Baku, 6,000 tickets have been made available to each of the finalists."
