The organizers of the final of the Europa League opened the turnstiles to fill empty seats

Authorities in Baku opened the turnstiles during the first half of the Europa League final to allow members of the public to enter the Olympic Stadium for free.

The decision, which was taken without UEFA approval, was taken because Azerbaijani officials would be embarrbaded by the number of empty seats shown on television.

Chelsea and Arsenal had already returned half of their 6,000 seats allocated due to lack of demand for the final.

Fans were reluctant to travel to Baku because of the long distance and the cost of the journey, with some Thomas Cook charter flights costing around £ 1,000.

BT Sport commentators referred to the number of empty seats in the stadium during the first 30 minutes of the match, but after half an hour of play, many seats began to fill up.

A gunner supporter, speaking to The Times, said, "We were in the corner of the Arsenal and there were a lot of empty seats and, after about 30 minutes, many people, including children, were given flags at Arsenal. wave."

A UEFA employee revealed that the decision of officials in Baku had been taken against the will of the ruling body, but they could not do anything to prevent this from happening.

UEFA has also received many criticisms when Arsenal made the decision not to take Armenian striker Henrikh Mikhitaryan to the match. The 30-year-old refused to travel to Baku because of the conflict between his country and Azerbaijan.

The same political tensions prevented him from playing the Gunners match against Qarabag in Baku earlier this season, while preventing him from playing for Borussia Dortmund in a Europa League match against Gabala – north from Azerbaijan – in October 2015.