Category Archives: Blogging
All Europe is surprised because of Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s absence
9 days before the clash with Chelsea in the final of the Europa League 2018-19, Arsenal’s preparation process met with great obstacles. “We are disappointed to announce that Henrikh Mkhitaryan will not be able to join the team”, Arsenal announced.
Usually, a player just misses the final continent level desirable in his career because of a serious injury. But Mkhitaryan’s case is not related to luck in soccer. Arsenal must withdraw their star from the most important match of the season for no other reason than the place he was born, Armenia.
Controversial decision
Please forget about the costly and time-consuming journey that Arsenal and Chelsea fans will have to go through if you want to go to Baku (Azerbaijan) to support your favorite team. Please temporarily forget the frustration when UEFA only distributes 6,000 tickets to 2-team fans while the Olympic stadium can accommodate up to 69,870 people. The most controversial issue in the past days is the ability to attend the match of Mkhitaryan midfielder.
UEFA chose to host the 2018-19 Europa League final in a country where people with certain nationalities are not allowed to enter the territory.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have experienced a long-lasting conflict. These two countries do not have diplomatic relations because of tensions related to the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Azerbaijan prohibits Armenian citizens from entering the territory. Even foreign nationals with Armenian blood are not allowed to enter Azerbaijan.
Mkhitaryan – a player with Armenian nationality, is among them. Mkhitaryan is also the captain of the Armenian National League. He even entered the “black list” of the Azerbaijan government because he visited an area occupied by the Azerbaijan army without permission, according to the ambassador of Azerbaijan in the United Kingdom, Tahir Taghizadeh.
In an interview with Sky Sports, Mr. Tahir Taghizadeh said Mkhitaryan’s safety would be guaranteed if the midfielder did not use the game as a political blow instead of sports. “His problem was visiting a military occupation area in Azerbaijan without permission from the Azerbaijan government. Consequently, he was on the blacklist of the government. The message I want to send to Mkhitaryan is: You are a football player, you want to play football. Go to Baku and you will be safe there. If you want to play, the story will be completely different”.
The role of UEFA?
The complexity of the incident forced Arsenal to carefully discuss with Mkhitaryan and his family. After all, they decided not to take Mkhitaryan to Azerbaijan. Arsenal and Mkhitaryan all feel that the promise of ensuring safety for players from UEFA and the Football Association of Azerbaijan is not enough.
In essence, Arsenal and Mkhitaryan are not brave enough to risk the player’s safety. This is not the first time Arsenal have done so to protect Mkhitaryan when the team must play the match in Azerbaijan. But what about UEFA’s role in selecting a politically sensitive venue to host an event?
UEFA’s core principle is respect, actively promoting inclusion and diversity in football: “Everyone has the right to enjoy football, no matter who you are, where you come from and how to play”. The choice of Baku shows that UEFA goes against this principle. It may even adversely affect UEFA’s campaigns on equality and anti-discrimination in the future.
Last year, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) had to replace the tournament venue after Saudi Arabia did not allow players from Israel to compete. UEFA for its own sake did not do so. Before the wave of fierce criticism from fans and Arsenal officials and players, UEFA only issued a statement expressing sympathy to Mkhitaryan and respecting the player’s decision.
Tiger Woods returned with the 80th PGA Tour title in his career
Not many sports athletes are considered legendary when still competing. But Tiger Woods is one of those rare. In his heyday, Tiger Woods was golf, golf was Tiger Woods. After a decade of scandal, crisis, now that legend has returned with the 80th PGA Tour title in his career.
Often famous stars are threatened with hot photos or private lives. Tiger Woods’ case is the opposite. It is the legendary American golfer who threatens to unleash lacking photos of Kristin Smith.
This is Tiger Woods’ first victory after five years of top-notch competition and has great significance for American golfers. It shows that his tireless efforts paid off. He won the last golf tournament of the year with -11 points and 2 strokes.
In the final round, Tiger Woods was 3 points ahead of Rory Mcllroy when he finished the second round with a score of -12. Tiger started with a birdie score at hole 1 and scored 8 consecutive points, ending the first 9 holes with a score of -1 bringing the total score to -13 strokes. In the following 9 holes, he played a bogey error at the right of hole 10 after a mistake. However, in the 13th hole, Woods excelled in birdie scoring and scoring. Everything became more dramatic at the 15th and 16th hole when the American golfer had two bogey errors and Billy Horschel overtook McIlroy to chase Woods close to the distance with only 2 sticks. However, in the last two holes, without making any more mistakes, Woods scored two par points to win the championship.
Woods returned, fans also extended their arms to welcome him. Thousands of spectators were at East Lake, Atlanta to watch their beloved idols and golfer. More specifically, many people followed Woods’ sticks at the 18th hole (par 5) to see firsthand the moment Woods once again climbed the emotional championship.
This is the 80th PGA Tour title of the 42-year-old golfer, only a record low of Sam Snead 2 titles. At the end of the Tour Championship, Tiger Woods marked its return to its first championship in five years, reaching the 13th in the world. The current No. 1 golfer is Dustin Johnson, who won the FedEx Cup and finished third in the Tour Championship.
Woods was judged by experts and audiences and thought he should retire, especially after the latest scandal when he was arrested by police in a state of uncontrolled driving with a suspected drug use case. Previously, the most scandal of “super tigers” is sex addiction and the prostitutes, prostitutes in the list of lovers, which caused his marriage to collapse. Woods has been turned around by the whole world. Then when he wants to play again, the injuries continue to persist. Woods once fell outside the Top 500 world and even last year, he was ranked No. 1199 because he was absent due to injury.
But Woods doesn’t retire, despite criticism that he should focus on solving personal problems rather than some ambition for golf. But it is a tiger. After five years of hard work, leaving all scandals behind, ignoring criticism and disparaging words, Woods proved to be the champion of a champion who was once called a legend of a golf village. He was the one who caused his glorious career to decline in the last 10 years but still he saw all the mistakes and shook the mud up. And now Tiger Woods’ title collection has reached 107 championships.