international
Somali referee banned by US to officiate European Super Cup, UEFA says
Key takeaways
- Omar Artan was named among match officials for 2026 World Cup but will miss the tournament after US refuses him entry.
- UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin poured praise on the Somali referee in a statement released on Thursday, a few hours before global body FIFA’s flagship World Cup kicks off.
- “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,” said Ceferin.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Omar Artan was named among match officials for 2026 World Cup but will miss the tournament after US refuses him entry.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Artan was named CAF men's referee of the year in 2025 [File: AFP]By AFPPublished On 11 Jun 202611 Jun 2026Somali referee Omar Artan, who was denied entry to the United States for the World Cup, has been named to officiate UEFA’s Super Cup, European football’s governing body announced.
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin poured praise on the Somali referee in a statement released on Thursday, a few hours before global body FIFA’s flagship World Cup kicks off.
Article preview — originally published by Al Jazeera. Full story at the source.
Read full story on Al Jazeera →
More top stories
Also covered by
Le Monde (English)
Somali referee dropped from World Cup named to officiate UEFA's Super Cup
Euronews
Somali referee denied entry to the US set to officiate UEFA Super Cup final
France 24
Somali referee banned by US picked for UEFA's PSG-Aston Villa game
BBC News
Artan to referee Uefa Super Cup after losing World Cup spot
Aggregated and edited by the Scoop newsroom. We surface news from Al Jazeera alongside other reporting so you can compare coverage in one place.
Editorial policy · Corrections · About Scoop