Uefa have responded after Arsenal released a strongly worded statement regarding the governing body’s decision to host the Europa League final in Baku.

Unai Emery’s side will meet Chelsea in the Azerbaijani capital, but the two clubs have been allocated just 12,000 tickets between them and there is still uncertainty over whether Henrikh Mkhitaryan will be able to travel for the fixture – due to the conflict with neighbouring Armenia.

Arsenal released a letter yesterday expressing that they are “bitterly disappointed by the fact that due to transport limitations Uefa can only make a maximum of 6,000 tickets available to Arsenal for a stadium with a capacity of well over 60,000.”

“We have 45,000 season-ticket holders and for so many fans to miss out due to Uefa selecting a final venue with such limited transport provision is quite simply not right,” the letter continued. ”The reality is that whoever reached the final would not be able to meet demand from their supporters.”

Uefa have now responded to Arsenal in an official statement, claiming that “an all-English final played by two London teams was not a very predictable event at the time of the appointment”.

Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Show all 32 1 /32 Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Arsenal: Stay or go? LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 05: Arsenal players look dejected following a draw in the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Brighton & Hove Albion at Emirates Stadium on May 05, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) Clive Mason Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Bernd Leno - Stay After a steady integration and a few early errors, the German has settled in well as Arsenal's No 1 keeper, playing exceptionally against Leicester last week and more than justifying his £25m price tag. Action Plus via Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Petr Cech - Retired The 36-year-old will hang up his gloves at the end of the season. Arsenal are keen to keep him on in a coaching capacity, however, Cech may prefer a return to former club Chelsea. PA Stay or go: Arsenal's squad David Ospina - Keep Napoli have an option to buy, however, the Colombian would prove a perfect, and most importantly free, back-up if the Italians do not take up that offer at a time when Arsenal need to focus on investing in other positions. REUTERS Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Emiliano Martinez - Sell The Argentinian has impressed at Reading on loan. But at 26, he's unlikely to ever establish himself as first-choice at Arsenal and the player is keen to move on and gain first-team football. Action Plus via Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Laurent Koscielny - Keep A leadership figure at the club with one-year remaining on his contract, the Frenchman is certainly worth keeping on for a final season, despite becoming increasingly injury prone. AFP/Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Sokratis - Keep Adapted well in his first season and also has genuine leadership qualities in the dressing-room. One of Arsenal's more reliable options in defence this season and a worthy back-up at the least. Action Images via Reuters Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Rob Holding - Keep Flourished under Unai Emery before his season was derailed by an ACL injury. Should establish himself as first-choice next season. Arsenal FC via Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Shkodran Mustafi - Sell A liability who Arsenal will be desperately regretting not offloading to Inter Milan when they had the chance. Unreliable and error-prone, Emery does not rely on the German in a back-four and the club will be keen to move him on, even if his value has dipped dramatically. Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Konstantinos Mavropanos - Keep Has been given precious little game time, despite high hopes around the Greek defender. Needs to be given more minutes next season unless Arsenal would consider a loan deal. AFP/Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Calum Chambers - Sell Utlimately ended up playing as a central midfielder for Fulham this season and, while showing signs of improvment, does not have the quality to re-establish himself at Arsenal. Chambers is only 24 and should command a reasonable transfer fee from a side towards the other end of the Premier League table. REUTERS Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Hector Bellerin - Keep Another long-term injury absentee this season. Arsenal's best defender on his day and one they will certainly look to keep hold of. Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Nacho Monreal - Keep The under-celebrated cog in Arsenal's maligned defence. Monreal can play both as a left-back in a 4-4-2 and as a wing-back or left-sided centre-half when Emery opts for five-at-the-back. Valuable versatility and experience that's worth holding onto as a back-up for the final year of his contract. Arsenal FC via Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Sead Kolasinac - Replace for the right price Cannot be relied upon in a four-at-the-back formation. Frequently fails to track his marker and is lost for pace against skilfull wingers, despite often being brilliant going forwards. Very effective as a wing-back but Arsenal need a first-choice left-back who can be trusted to help sure up a leaky defence. Action Plus via Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Ainsley Maitland-Niles - Keep More often used as a right-back, despite favouring a midfield role. Maitland-Niles has improved but is yet to totally convince. At 21, time is still on his side and he clearly has the potential, but he needs to find another level over the course of the next season. Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Stephan Lichtsteiner - Release Has hardly impressed when filling in and at 35 is well off the pace of the Premier League. Contract expires at the end of the season and is almost certain to depart. Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Carl Jenkinson - Release A cult favourite at the Emirates but a player who has never lived up to expectation. Will depart when his contract expires this summer. Getty Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Granit Xhaka - Keep Can be a frustrating anchor in Arsenal's midfield with errant passing and reckless tackling. Ideally Arsenal would replace the Swiss international, but with a replacement for Ramsey already required it's unlikely Xhaka can be afforded to leave. AFP/Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Lucas Torreira - Keep The Uruguayan fell out of favour with Emery during the latter part of the season, despite immediately impressing. Still needs time to adapt to the pace of the Premier League but the 23-year-old continues to look brilliant value at just £25m. Action Plus via Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Matteo Guendouzi- Keep The 19-year-old has been one of the shining lights of this first campaign under Emery, with huge potential and a fearless personality. Can steadily be refined into a first-team starter for years to come if continues to improve and irons out youthful flaws. Action Images via Reuters Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Mohamed Elneny - Sell Only used as a last-ditch option by Emery and does not have the technical quality to effectively fill in for those ahead of him. Arsenal should be able to recoup the £5m transfer fee paid for the Egyptian in 2016. Arsenal FC via Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Aaron Ramsey - Joining Juventus Arsenal will need to replace Ramsey with a midfielder of similar ilk. The decision not to extend his contract has become increasingly mindless during the second-half of the season in which he has been Arsenal's best player. Arsenal FC via Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Denis Suarez - Return to Barcelona Who? Barely featured since Arsenal desperately pursued a loan deal for the 25-year-old in January. The decision to sign Suarez, over younger players with more potential, also contributed to Sven Mislintat's shock departure. One to forget. Arsenal FC via Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Alex Iwobi - Sell for the right price Showed early improvements under Emery but it's still hard to say Iwobi has proved he has the quality to stand against the Premier League's top wingers, with a lacking final ball and paltry goal tally. There's no need to actively look to move Iwobi onwards, but if the right offer came in Arsenal should consider their options. Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Mesut Ozil - Intends to stay Arsenal should look to free up their wage budget and sell Ozil, despite a recent upturn in form after a season of quarrels with Emery. There was already an openness to offload Ozil in the January window, but the creative enigma has now claimed he intends to stay and there's little Arsenal can do to force him out. Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Henrikh Mkhitaryan - Sell Has never managed to consistently impress at Arsenal and his £180,000-per-week wages are a hindrance on the club. Arsenal should definitely look to move the Armenian on. The 30-year-old iis another one though who may be happy to sit tight. Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Reiss Nelson - Keep Started brilliantly at Hoffenheim before falling out of favour and then losing his space in the squad for disciplinary reasons. Has great potential and should hope to break through at Arsenal next season. DFL via Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Emile Smith Rowe - Keep Made an impressive breakthrough before struggling with injury before Christmas, which has since prevented him from getting game time on loan at RB Leipzig. Clearly Arsenal's best young prospect with clear potential and, despite Leipzig's interest in another loan deal, Arsenal should look to keep him at the club next season. Arsenal FC via Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Alexandre Lacazette - Keep Arsenal's player of the year this season. Build-up play, ability to hold up the ball, added robustness and willingness to drop deep behind Aubameyang has turned him into an ideal striker in Emery's set-up. Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang - Keep Twenty goals in the Premier League this season, despite being guilty of occasionally missing key opportunities. Has developed a great relationship with Lacazette. Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Danny Welbeck - Released Arsenal confirmed Welbeck's contract won't be extended after the draw with Brighton. Arsenal FC via Getty Images Stay or go: Arsenal's squad Eddie Nketiah - Loan Needs more time on the pitch to develop. Almost joined Augsburg in the January window and should look to improve on loan with options currently so limited behind Lacazette and Aubameyang. Arsenal FC via Getty Images

“We acknowledge your letter of 15 May,” Uefa’s response began.

“I would like to give you a bit of depth with this reply. Knowing your long experience in football and UEFA competitions, I am sure you can fully appreciate that the organisation of a final is a complex and lengthy operation. UEFA has committed to appoint hosts only via a fair and transparent bidding process, where the candidates have to provide evidence of their ability to stage the event on the basis of a number of criteria that are crucial to its successful delivery.

“The bidding process for a club competition final is generally held a couple of years in advance, meaning that the exact circumstances in which the final will have to be organised cannot be known at the time of the appointment.

The Olympic Stadium in Baku will host the final (Getty)

“Mobility and accommodation are obviously key criteria falling under evaluation, with airport capacity being an important element. The specificity of the UEFA Europa League final, when compared to the UEFA Champions League final, is the high volatility in the number of fans following the two finalist teams. Experience from all previous finals tells us that the numbers may be very inconsistent from team to team and from final to final and that it is therefore not advisable to establish the tickets quota of the two finalist teams as a proportion of capacity rather than on statistically based realistic figures. It would of course be ideal to postpone the entire ticketing process (including tickets for neutral public) until such moment when teams are known or closely predictable. Of course this is not possible due to the complexity of all ticketing operations and the need to draw up thorough and robust security plans.

“It goes without saying that an all-English final played by two London teams was not a very predictable event at the time of the appointment. There is little doubt that this has added significant difficulties to the event logistics. We are really sorry for the problems that your (and Chelsea’s) fans are encountering trying to organise their journey to Baku. Our experts are keenly working on this matter with a view to help find cheaper solutions for travelling fans. We would welcome a joint effort with your club in this respect.

The stadium holds 60,000, but only 12,000 tickets have been allocated to the English sides in total (Uefa) (UEFA)

“For UEFA fans are a priority. Football is for fans and all of them around Europe should have the chance to enjoy unique moments of top football such as only UEFA competitions can offer. Those matches are usually reserved to a limited number of countries whose clubs are particularly competitive but, when appropriate infrastructure exists and is built also in this perspective, it is fair and due not only to give also other fans the possibility of a unique live experience, but also to stage events which can greatly boost the promotion of football in an entire region. That’s why UEFA would consider utterly unfair to exclude certain venues just based on their decentralised geographical position.