Somali referee Omar Artan has been selected to officiate the highly UEFA Super club match between PSG and Aston Villa in Salzburg scheduled for August.
This comes after the referee was denied visa into the US for the world cup. The Somali FIFA referee, was denied entry into the United States ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup despite reportedly holding a valid visa. As a result, FIFA confirmed that he would not be able to officiate at the tournament.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the denial was based on unspecified “vetting concerns” discovered during additional screening at Miami International Airport.
Subsequently, U.S. officials stated that the decision was linked to alleged associations with individuals suspected of connections to terrorist organisations. However, publicly available reports indicate that no detailed evidence has been released, and Artan has denied wrongdoing.
