Arsenal’s Europa League fixture against FC Vorskla on Thursday will now be played in Kiev due to security concerns, the Mirror reports.
The fixture will now be played over 200 miles away from the original venue of the Stadion Vorskla im. Olexiy Butovskiy in Poltava, leaving Arsenal fans having to find ulterior travel methods to the game than those originally planned.
A statement on the fixture released by UEFA said:
FC Vorskla Poltava’s UEFA Europa League group stage encounter against Arsenal FC moved to Kiev due to security concerns.
UEFA’s Emergency panel has today taken the decision to relocate FC Vorskla’s UEFA Europa League group stage match against Arsenal FC from the city of Poltava, following the introduction of martial law into certain regions in Ukraine.
The match will now take place at the Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kiev on Thursday November 29 at 18.55CET.
UEFA will continue to monitor and assess the security situation in Ukraine in the coming days before making any decision on potentially relocating other matches.
Kiev’s Olimpiyskiy Stadium, which hosted the 2018 Champions League final in May, will now host the Group E clash.
500 Gunners fans had already bought tickets to the Europa League clash but it is yet to be seen how many of these will make it to the new venue on Thursday night.
Thea special Arsenal section on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website to keep supporters up to date with any further developments surrounding the fixture.
The website states that the game should be trouble-free but anyone planning to attend should “be aware of the current political situation”.
