Europa League final has proved to be difficult to travel to for many supporters

Arsenal and Chelsea will return thousands of tickets after struggling to sell them

UEFA are facing the embarrassing prospect of next week's Europa League final between Arsenal and Chelsea being played in front of a sparse crowd at the Olympic Stadium in Baku.

Both clubs have failed to sell out their allocations, with supporters citing the difficulty and cost of travelling to the Azerbaijan capital as their prime reason.

The Europa League final could take place next week in front of thousands of empty seats

The two Premier League clubs have plans to send back a combined total of over 6,000 tickets - more than half their original allocations - having only managed to shift 3,500 and 2,000 respectively.

Initially, Arsenal had made complaints condemning the decision to be allotted a meagre percentage of the 69,000-capacity stadium.

However, the cost and limited availability of flights has resulted in fans opting against travelling to Baku to watch their teams play in the final.

A number of UEFA's commercial partners, who were due to attend the showpiece match, are reportedly suffering from similar problems while visa issues and the late kick-off of 11pm local time is also deterring people.

Arsenal's Henrikh Mkhitaryan said he would not travel to the game over fears for his safety

All of the returned tickets will be put back on general sale and offered to local supporters, although it is uncertain if the demand will be high with 23,000 tickets already being sold in Azerbaijan, meaning there could be thousands of empty seats inside the stadium.

Arsenal fans are already furious with UEFA over their decision to stage the final in Baku in light of Henrikh Mkhitaryan's withdrawal from the squad amid concerns over his safety.

Sportsmail revealed that the governing body have warned Arsenal that any protests from their supporters will not be tolerated. Officials have been promoted to be on the lookout for any anti-UEFA banners in Baku as well as listening out for chants.