Borussia Dortmund defeated the Azerbaijan club Qabala, 3-1, in a Europa League group-stage match Thursday night in Baku, yet a sense of frustration hung over the German team’s trip after safety concerns prompted the club to leave one of its starters at home.
The player, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, is a member of the national team of Armenia, which technically remains at war with Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Because of those political tensions, Mkhitaryan feared visa problems or — at worst — arrest as soon as he set foot on the tarmac in Azerbaijan.
Despite assurances from Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry and pledges of support from European soccer’s governing body, UEFA, Dortmund decided safety concerns left it no choice but to avoid the risk completely.