Somalian referee Omar Artan, who lost the chance to referee at the World Cup after the United States refused him entry.He will take charge of the Uefa Super Cup between Paris Saint-Germain and Aston Villa on Wednesday.
Before the World Cup started in June, the 34-year-old referee unwittingly found himself in the media spotlight. Officials turned him away on arrival at Miami International Airport, despite his place on Fifa’s panel of referees selected for the tournament.
“It was a very tough period,” Artan said in an interview published on the Uefa website.
“A lot of people have sympathy for me. 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.”
A US State Department official told AFP that the referee was “associated with suspected members of terrorist organisations”. Therefore, he was “ineligible for admission to the United States”.
The referee rejected these allegations. They also caused outrage in Somalia, where people welcomed Artan as a hero on his return.
“It is unfortunate what happened to the referee from Somalia,” Fifa president Gianni Infantino said at the time, adding: “We don’t control everything.”
In response, Uefa, the governing body of European football, announced that Artan would referee the Uefa Super Cup. The match pits Champions League winners PSG against Europa League winners Aston Villa.
“I was lucky, but I have worked very hard to be here, and I’m really proud,” Artan told Uefa.
“As you can imagine, I grew up in a difficult situation, but it didn’t prevent me from pursuing my dreams.”
Artan set for European debut
“Having adventures, making memories and learning new things is always great,” he added. “When we got this call, it was, for me and my family, really a very, very happy moment.”
To justify its decision to appoint Artan as referee for the Super Cup, Uefa pointed to the agreement it signed at the end of April with the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The agreement aims to encourage cooperation between the two confederations.
But it is also a political gesture by Uefa, which is regularly critical of Fifa. The appointment takes on even greater significance in light of the conflict that has pitted the European body against Infantino for the past two weeks.
The dispute centres on the abandoned plan to open up the World Cup to private investors.
The plan’s failure was largely due to the revolt led by Uefa. The European body continues to wield the threat of a boycott of Fifa tournaments, including the World Cups, in an attempt to force Infantino to step down.
