While tensions between the UK and Russia escalate, Arsenal defender Calum Chambers has called on his teammates to ignore the non-football distractions as his side host CSKA Moscow in the Europa League quarter-final first leg on Thursday.
As the fallout of the Sergei Skripal spy-poisoning incident continues and a major diplomatic dispute between Russia and the UK rages, several countries have ordered the expulsion Russian diplomats.
In addition, some politicians have called on England to boycott the World Cup in Russia this summer, while Gunners fans planning to make the trip to Moscow for the second leg of the quarter final were warned about "anti-British sentiment" due to "heightened political tensions" by a statement on the club's website (via the Guardian).