Somali referee Omar Artan to take charge of UEFA Super Cup after being denied entry to World Cup 2026 in United States

Omar Artan will be in the middle for the match between UEFA Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain and UEFA Europa League winners Aston Villa.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said: "Omar Artan is an excellent young but already experienced referee, who has proven himself at the highest competition level of the Confederation of African Football.

"Football is made to connect people, and UEFA wants to show its respect to Omar and his outstanding officiating skills, which had earned him such a prestigious nomination.

"I am grateful to my friend CAF President Patrice Motsepe for supporting enthusiastically our initiative."

Motsepe was delighted with Artan’s appointment - saying he is a "world-class" official.

"Omar Artan has made Somalia and the entire people of the African Continent, extremely proud," Motsepe said.

"His receipt of the CAF Men’s Referee of the Year Award 2025 and his appointment as a referee of the FIFA World Cup 2026 are a recognition of his world-class refereeing ability and the international respect that he enjoys. 

"I am very thankful to my friend, Aleksander Ceferin for enabling Omar Artan to officiate the UEFA Super Cup 2026 match.

"This is a great honour for Omar Artan and for African referees and is also an excellent example of football, bringing together and uniting people from Africa and Europe and worldwide." 

Artan arrived in Miami earlier this week with the intention of officiating at the World Cup, but was turned away following an 11-hour immigration interview.

Speaking to The New York Times, he said: "I am very, very disappointed. I’m just simply a referee who’s trying to live his dream, the biggest dream of my life, to come to the World Cup.

"I had the right papers and everything. I had the right visa."

Somalia is one of 12 countries on a travel ban list introduced by President Donald Trump. 

Asked why Artan was denied entry, a White House official said it was due to suspected terror ties: "This individual was seeking admission to the United States. Upon further inspection by CBP [Custom and Border Protection], derogatory information, including association with suspected members of terror organisations, was discovered making the traveller ineligible for admission to the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

"The traveller was refused admission and given immigration forms that provide the section of law used to complete an expedited removal under 8235 of the INA.

"President Trump's administration will not allow any security threat to enter our country - full stop."

FIFA president Gianni Infantino was questioned on the decision to send Artan home, and he moved to distance the governing body from the incident.

"It is unfortunate what happened to the referee from Somalia. Again, we don't control everything," Infantino said. "We try, we will discuss, we will speak, we will see.

"Sometimes it's good to chill, relax, we work on everything, we try to solve everything. Sometimes to immediately start screaming and shouting has the opposite effect of finding a solution.

"Believe me when I tell you, we always try to find solutions. But we need to respect we are not the kings of the world who can rule over governments and police forces. We are a sports organisation."

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