PARIS.- “It was my World“wrote the Somali referee Omar Artan on one of the balls of the European Super Cupwhich he directed on Wednesday at Salzburgtwo months after USA would deny him entry and deprive him of refereeing in the 2026 World Cup.
In a message posted on Thursday on her X account, the UEFAorganizer of the match between Paris Saint-Germainchampion of the Champions Leagueand the Aston Villachampion of the Europa Leaguepublished a photo in which a ball was seen with that message written in black.
“A special memory of the Super Cup from Omar Artan,” UEFA added as the caption of the image.
Deprived of his dream of refereeing in the 2026 World Cup after his entry to the United States was rejected upon arrival at the airport in Miami In June, the Somali referee was invited by UEFA to referee the European Super Cup, which PSG won on Wednesday (2-1).
He United States Department of State He then justified his rejection of Artan’s entry due to the referee’s alleged links “to people suspected of belonging to terrorist organizations”, which made him “ineligible to enter” US soil.
The accusations, rejected by the referee, caused outrage in Somaliawhere he was received as a hero upon his return to the country.
On Thursday, on his Instagram account, Artan thanked UEFA for “the trust and the opportunity”, in addition to “having welcomed him (…) with open arms” in Europe.
“I also thank my own confederation, the CAF (African Football Confederation) for their support,” he added.
More fuel to the fire
This incident was one of the first sparks to fly between UEFA and FIFA this summer, until the current open confrontation over the already aborted project of the president of the latter entity, Gianni Infantinoto open the competitions to private investors.
The Italian-Swiss has already given up on the project, but UEFA, with the support of Concacaf (North, Central America and the Caribbean) and the AFC (Asia), continues to call for a change in FIFA governance.
Infantino, close to the US president donald trumpstated in reaction to the Artan incident that what had happened to the Somali referee was “unfortunate”, but that FIFA “does not control everything”.
