{"id":7215,"date":"2026-06-11T16:35:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T16:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/11\/somali-referee-banned-by-us-to-officiate-european-super-cup-uefa-says\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T16:35:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T16:35:17","slug":"somali-referee-banned-by-us-to-officiate-european-super-cup-uefa-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/11\/somali-referee-banned-by-us-to-officiate-european-super-cup-uefa-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Somali referee banned by US to officiate European Super Cup, UEFA says"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><a target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\" aria-label href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/fifa-world-cup-2026\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" height=\"22.5\" width=\"222.75\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Post-Label-Image-Option-1-1780213226.png?fit=396%2C40&#038;quality=80\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"World Cup 2026 post label\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Omar Artan \u200bwas named among match officials \u200bfor 2026 World Cup but will miss the tournament after US refuses him entry.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Somali referee Omar Artan, who was <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/6\/8\/us-confirms-denying-entry-to-somali-referee-set-to-take-part-in-world-cup\">denied entry<\/a> to the United States for the World Cup, has been named to officiate UEFA\u2019s Super Cup, European football\u2019s governing body announced.<\/p>\n<p>UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin poured praise on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/6\/10\/heros-welcome-for-somali-referee-denied-entry-to-us-world-cup-tournament\">the Somali referee<\/a> in a statement released on Thursday, a few hours before global body FIFA\u2019s flagship World Cup kicks off.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/6\/11\/top-five-must-watch-matches-of-the-group-stage-at-world-cup-2026\">Top five \u2018must-watch\u2019 matches of the group stage at World Cup 2026<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/6\/11\/the-world-cups-most-storied-stadium-prepares-for-another-chapter\">Azteca: The World Cup\u2019s most storied stadium prepares for latest chapter<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/longform\/2026\/6\/11\/world-celebrates-but-gaza-watches-the-world-cup-from-a-distance\">World celebrates, but Gaza watches the World Cup from a distance<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/6\/11\/world-cup-2026-full-match-schedule-groups-teams-and-start-times\">World Cup guide: All to know about groups, match schedule and kickoff times<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cOmar Artan is an excellent young but already experienced referee, who has proven himself at the highest competition level of the Confederation of African Football,\u201d said Ceferin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFootball is made to connect people, and UEFA wants to show its respect to Omar and his outstanding officiating skills, which had earned him such a prestigious nomination.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>UEFA said that after talks with the African confederation, it \u201chas today appointed Somali referee Omar Artan to officiate the 2026 UEFA Super Cup\u201d on August 12 in Salzburg, Austria, between Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain and Europa League winners Aston Villa.<\/p>\n<p>Artan\u2019s case has been one of many incidents to taint the run-up to FIFA\u2019s World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>UEFA said Artan\u2019s appointment came in the framework of an accord between UEFA and CAF to encourage cooperation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUEFA and CAF are united by a shared commitment to developing football at all levels and promoting the core values of unity, equality and non-discrimination,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n<p>CAF President Patrice Motsepe said Artan had \u201cmade Somalia and the entire people of the African continent extremely proud\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis receipt of the CAF men\u2019s referee of the year award 2025 and his appointment as a referee of the FIFA World Cup 2026 are a recognition of his world-class refereeing ability and the international respect that he enjoys.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His appointment to referee the Super Cup \u201cis a great honour for Omar Artan and for African referees and is also an excellent example of football, bringing together and uniting people from Africa and Europe and worldwide\u201d, Motsepe said.<\/p>\n<p>Artan was barred from entering the US on Saturday after arriving at Miami International Airport.<\/p>\n<p>A US State Department official told the AFP news agency that the referee was \u201cassociated with suspected members of terrorist organisations\u201d, therefore \u201cmaking the traveller ineligible for admission to the United States\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>FIFA also confirmed that he would no longer be part of the World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>Artan\u2019s appointment to the 52-strong roster of referees for the finals in Canada, Mexico and the US had been a huge source of pride for his compatriots.<\/p>\n<p>He returned to a hero\u2019s welcome in Mogadishu on Wednesday and pledged to take part in the next World Cup in 2030.<\/p>\n<p><em>The FIFA World Cup begins on June 11. You can follow the action on Al Jazeera\u2019s dedicated\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/fifa-world-cup-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">World Cup 2026<\/a>\u00a0page with all the latest news, match build-up and live text commentary, and keep up to date with group standings, real-time match results and schedules.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Omar Artan \u200bwas named among match officials \u200bfor 2026 World Cup but will miss the tournament after US refuses him entry. Somali referee Omar Artan, who was denied entry to the United States for the World Cup, has been named to officiate UEFA\u2019s Super Cup, European football\u2019s governing body announced. UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin poured &#8230; <a title=\"Somali referee banned by US to officiate European Super Cup, UEFA says\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/11\/somali-referee-banned-by-us-to-officiate-european-super-cup-uefa-says\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Somali referee banned by US to officiate European Super Cup, UEFA says\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}