Liam Duckstein
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When Omar Abdulkadir Artan leads Paris Saint-Germain and Aston Villa out in Salzburg on 12 August, he will break a barrier that has stood for half a century. In 50 previous editions, the UEFA Super Cup has never been refereed by an official from outside Europe. The 51st changes that — and it does so barely two months after Artan was turned away at a US airport and stripped of the World Cup appointment he had spent a career chasing.
Who Is Omar Artan, the 2026 Super Cup Referee
Artan is 34 and has been on FIFA’s international list since 2018. In the past 18 months alone he became the first Somali to take charge of a CAF Champions League final, collected the CAF Men’s Referee of the Year Award for 2025, and officiated the third-place match at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile. He was also the first Somali to referee at the Africa Cup of Nations, in 2024.
His route into the game was not a conventional one. Artan lost his father young and grew up apart from his mother; a minor playing injury pushed him toward officiating rather than out of football altogether. He worked up from informal neighbourhood matches to school fixtures and then into the Somali league, without the family or federation scaffolding most elite referees take for granted. He credits CAF’s backing as decisive, and describes the climb plainly — a difficult upbringing that never stopped him chasing what he wanted.
The World Cup Rejection That Preceded the Appointment
Artan’s name was on the 52-strong referee roster for the 2026 World Cup across Canada, Mexico and the United States — a first for Somalia and a source of national pride. He never made it past passport control.
He was refused entry at Miami International Airport, despite travelling on a diplomatic passport with a valid single-entry US visa. A US State Department official told AFP that Artan was ineligible for admission on the basis of an alleged association with suspected members of terrorist organisations. Somalia is among the countries covered by a travel ban introduced by President Donald Trump. FIFA subsequently confirmed he would take no part in the tournament.
Artan has said he was questioned about links to the Somali militant group Al Shabab and told officials he knew nothing about it. His account has been consistent since: he had the correct paperwork, the correct visa, and was travelling to referee football matches. A senior adviser to Somalia’s Ministry of Sports, Ciise Aden Abshir, said the case had prompted serious concern at home and abroad, and that Somali authorities had approached sporting bodies across Europe seeking support.
He returned to Mogadishu to a hero’s welcome, addressed supporters at the national stadium, and said he intends to be at the 2030 World Cup.
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Why UEFA Stepped In
UEFA announced the appointment on 11 June, hours before the World Cup kicked off, following discussions with the Confédération Africaine de Football. The decision sits inside a memorandum of understanding the two confederations signed at the end of April to deepen cooperation, refereeing included.
UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin called Artan a young but experienced official who has already proven himself at CAF’s highest level, framing the appointment as a mark of respect for his officiating rather than a gesture. He also thanked CAF president Patrice Motsepe for backing the initiative.
Motsepe, for his part, said Artan had made Somalia and the wider continent proud, and pointed to the CAF award and the World Cup selection as evidence of a referee operating at world-class level. He described the Salzburg appointment as an honour for African referees generally and an example of football pulling people together across confederations.
The Full 2026 UEFA Super Cup Officials List
The on-field team is entirely African. UEFA has kept the video operation in European hands.
| Role | Official | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Referee | Omar Abdulkadir Artan | Somalia |
| Assistant referee 1 | Liban Abdoulrazack Ahmed | Djibouti |
| Assistant referee 2 | Stephen Eleazar Onyango Yiembe | Kenya |
| Fourth official | Rade Obrenovič | Slovenia |
| VAR | Marco Di Bello | Italy |
| Assistant VAR | Guillermo Cuadra Fernández | Spain |
| UEFA referee observer | Björn Kuipers | Netherlands |
| UEFA delegate | Adonis Procopiou | Cyprus |
Di Bello is a long-serving Serie A official with extensive VAR experience, and Cuadra Fernández brings the same from LaLiga. Watching over all of it is Björn Kuipers, the retired Dutch referee who took charge of a Champions League final and a European Championship final, now a member of the UEFA Referees Committee, who will assess the team’s performance.
Match Details in Salzburg
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Competition | 2026 UEFA Super Cup (51st edition) |
| Date | 12 August 2026 |
| Kick-off | 21:00 CET |
| Venue | Red Bull Arena / Stadion Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria |
| Fixture | Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) vs Aston Villa (ENG) |
| Qualification | Champions League holders vs Europa League holders |
Artan’s Preparation for His First Match in Europe
This will be Artan’s first competitive fixture on European soil, and he has treated the gap since June as a training block rather than a wait. He has kept refereeing league games in Somalia and took charge of the Kuwaiti Premier League title decider at the end of June — another first on a CV increasingly built from them.
His stated method is research-heavy. Artan says he studies teams before he officiates them: how they play, how they behave, their tactical patterns and their habits. He watches European football by choice anyway, which will shorten the homework on two sides who spent last season winning Europe’s two major trophies.
He has also framed the appointment as a two-way exchange rather than a favour — European refereeing standards are the benchmark, in his view, but he believes CAF officials have things to teach UEFA as much as they have to learn.
What the Appointment Means Beyond Salzburg
Only three UEFA competitions hand a referee this stage in a single night, and none of them arrives before the domestic season has even settled. The Super Cup is compressed, high-profile and unforgiving: one match, one trophy, no second leg. Handing it to an official who has never worked a match in Europe is a genuine risk on UEFA’s part, and both confederations know the performance will be read as a verdict on the wider agreement.
Artan’s own message to referees coming up behind him is unambiguous. If he can do it, he argues, anyone can — keep learning, refine the craft, and above all stay fair and consistent. Don’t stop dreaming, whatever gets in the way.
FAQ
Who is refereeing the 2026 UEFA Super Cup?
Omar Abdulkadir Artan of Somalia, the CAF Men’s Referee of the Year for 2025.
Why is the appointment historic?
Artan is the first non-European referee to officiate the UEFA Super Cup in the competition’s 51 editions.
Why was Artan denied entry to the United States?
A US State Department official cited an alleged association with suspected members of terrorist organisations. Artan was refused entry at Miami International Airport despite holding a diplomatic passport and a valid single-entry visa, and he has denied any knowledge of the group he was questioned about.
Who are the assistant referees and VAR officials?
Liban Abdoulrazack Ahmed (Djibouti) and Stephen Eleazar Onyango Yiembe (Kenya) run the lines, with Rade Obrenovič (Slovenia) as fourth official, Marco Di Bello (Italy) on VAR and Guillermo Cuadra Fernández (Spain) as AVAR.
When and where is the 2026 UEFA Super Cup?
12 August 2026, 21:00 CET, at the Red Bull Arena in Salzburg, Austria, between PSG and Aston Villa.
Has Artan refereed in Europe before?
No. Salzburg will be his first match on the continent.
A Night That Will Be Watched Twice Over
Every Super Cup produces two stories — the one about the trophy and the one about everything around it. This time the second may travel further. If the UEFA-CAF agreement is going to mean anything beyond a signed document, it needs appointments like this one to work on the night, and it needs more of them to follow.
For Artan, Salzburg is not compensation for June. It is the next fixture, prepared for like any other, in front of a Somali diaspora across Europe that will be watching a compatriot referee two of the continent’s champions. He has already said where his eyes are fixed after that: 2030. On this evidence, betting against him getting there would take some nerve.