Ben FisherTuesday August 11, 2026
Omar Artan (centre) received a hero’s welcome on returning to Mogadishu after being refused entry to the US. Photograph: Feisal Omar/Reuters
After being barred from entering the US to referee at the World Cup, Somali official Omar Artan has broken his silence on the decision — and spoken of his pride at being selected to oversee Wednesday’s Super Cup meeting between Paris Saint‑Germain and Aston Villa. Uefa appointed the 34-year-old to the fixture only days after he was prevented from working at the tournament.
Artan will make history at Salzburg’s Red Bull Arena as the first non-European referee to take charge of Uefa’s annual clash between the winners of the Champions League and Europa League. “When we got this call it was, for me and my family, really a very, very happy moment,” he said. “There’s a big Somali community in Europe and in Austria and they are over the moon with me officiating a match like this.”
Artan became embroiled in controversy on 6 June when he was denied entry at Miami international airport. Fifa president Gianni Infantino said he could not override the administration of Donald Trump. Somalia is among 12 countries included on a US travel-ban list introduced last year.
“It was a very tough period,” Artan said. “A lot of people have sympathy for me because when someone has been working a lot of years and is supposed to do something, and then can’t do it, it’s very challenging. I really appreciate the support I received throughout the world, though; I’m so grateful.”
In preparation for the match, Artan has officiated league fixtures in Somalia and games in the Kuwaiti Premier League. “We referees go through a lot of preparation in terms of getting to know the teams,” he said in an interview with Uefa. “I always watch the teams play. I like watching European football anyway but, regardless, I go through and do a lot of research on the teams, how they play, learn their behaviours, tactics.”
Artan’s team will include two other African officials: Liban Abdoulrazack Ahmed of Djibouti and Stephen Eleazar Onyango Yiembe of Kenya.
