Referee was accused of \u201cbeing associated with suspected members of terrorist organisations\u201d
\n Mogadishu
\nSomalian referee Omar Artan, who was denied the chance to referee at the World Cup after being refused entry to the United States, will take charge of the Uefa Super Cup between Paris Saint-Germain and Aston Villa on Wednesday.
\nBefore the World Cup started in June, the 34-year-old referee unwittingly found himself in the media spotlight after being turned away on arrival at Miami International Airport, despite being part of the panel of referees selected by Fifa for the tournament.
\n\u201cIt was a very tough period,\u201d Artan said in an interview published on the Uefa website.
\n\u201cA lot of people have sympathy for me, because when someone has been working a lot of years and is supposed to do something, and then can\u2019t do it, it\u2019s very challenging.\u201d
\nA US State Department official told AFP that the referee was \u201cassociated with suspected members of terrorist organisations\u201d, therefore \u201cmaking the traveller ineligible for admission to the United States\u201d.
\nThese allegations were rejected by the referee and caused outrage in Somalia, where Artan had been welcomed as a hero on his return.
\n\u201cIt is unfortunate what happened to the referee from Somalia,\u201d Fifa president Gianni Infantino said at the time, adding: \u201cWe don\u2019t control everything.\u201d
\nIn response, Uefa, the governing body of European football, announced that Artan would referee the Uefa Super Cup, which pits Champions League winners PSG against the Europa League winners Aston Villa.
\n\u201cI was lucky, but I have worked very hard to be here, and I\u2019m really proud,\u201d Artan told Uefa.
\n\u201cAs you can imagine, I grew up in a difficult situation, but it didn\u2019t prevent me from pursuing my dreams.\u201d
\nThe first Somali to officiate at the Africa Cup of Nations in 2024, Artan is now set to referee his first match in Europe.
\n\u201cHaving adventures, making memories and learning new things is always great,\u201d he added. \u201cWhen we got this call, it was, for me and my family, really a very, very happy moment.\u201d
\nTo 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) to encourage cooperation between the two confederations.
\nBut it is also a political gesture by Uefa, which is regularly critical of Fifa, and one that takes on even greater significance in light of the conflict that has pitted the European body against Infantino for the past two weeks, centring on the abandoned plan to open up the World Cup to private investors.
\nThe plan\u2019s failure was largely due to the revolt led by Uefa, which continues to wield the threat of a boycott of Fifa tournaments \u2014 including the World Cups \u2014 in an attempt to force Infantino to step down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Referee was accused of \u201cbeing associated with suspected members of terrorist organisations\u201d Mogadishu Somalian referee Omar Artan, who was denied the chance to referee at the World Cup after being refused entry to the United States, will take charge of the Uefa Super Cup between Paris Saint-Germain and Aston Villa on Wednesday. Before the World […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561522,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-561506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n