UEFA confirms Arsenal to play Vorskla Poltava in spite of Ukraine declaring martial law

What’s a good Europa League game without a little international conflict?

Arsenal are set to head out to eastern Ukraine on Thursday for their second leg against Vorskla Poltava in the group stage of the Europa League, but a recent skirmish between Ukraine and Russia have provided an unusual geopolitical backdrop for the game that largely only concerns us insofar as the Ukrainian parliament, at the behest of President Petro Poroshenko, has instituted martial law.

So with understandable concerns over the environment (political, not meteorological), UEFA issued a statement yesterday affirming that the game would proceed as scheduled:

UEFA says “we confirm that the match will be played as scheduled” on Thursday, adding that “as is the case for all UEFA competition matches, all the necessary security measures will be undertaken.”

Potential war between Ukraine and Russia? No worries. THE UEFA ARMY HAS EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL.

But while tensions in the region are heating up, the environment (meteorological, not political) for the game on Thursday is going to be somewhat cool. The high on Thursday is forecast to be 23 degrees Fahrenheit.

Arsenal are already through to the knockout stages, but have yet to clinch the top seed out of Group E.