The Somali referee Omar Artan, who was refused entry to the US to officiate at the World Cup, has spoken publicly for the first time about the decision and detailed his pride as he prepares to take charge of the Super Cup match between Paris Saint‑Germain and Aston Villa on Wednesday. Uefa awarded the 34-year-old Artan the game a few days after he was prevented from working at the tournament.
Artan will make history in Salzburg as the first non-European official to take charge of Uefa’s annual competition between the respective winners of the Champions League and the 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.”
