34-year-old Artan has been on the FIFA international list since 2018 and was named CAF Men’s Referee of the Year in 2025.
Following discussions with its sister confederation, Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF), UEFA has today appointed Somali referee Omar Artan to officiate the 2026 UEFA Super Cup, which will take place on 12 August in Salzburg between UEFA Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain and UEFA Europa League winners Aston Villa FC.
Despite his young age, Artan has established himself as one of the world’s top referees and has been on the FIFA international list since 2018. Among the most notable matches he has officiated is the second leg of the 2025/26 CAF Champions League final. In recognition of his performances, he received the CAF Men’s Referee of the Year Award 2025.
Artan had been included by FIFA in the match officials’ list for the FIFA World Cup 2026 but could not participate as he was not allowed to enter the United States.
The decision to appoint Artan to officiate the UEFA Super Cup match has been made in the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) recently signed between UEFA and CAF to encourage cooperation in many areas, including refereeing. UEFA 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.
Aleksander Čeferin, UEFA president, said: “Omar Artan is an excellent young but already experienced referee, who has proven himself at the highest competition level of the Confederation of African Football. Football 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. I am grateful to my friend CAF President Patrice Motsepe for supporting enthusiastically our initiative.”
Dr Patrice Motsepe, CAF president, said: “Omar Artan has made Somalia and the entire people of the African Continent, extremely proud. His receipt of the CAF Men’s 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. I am very thankful to my friend, Aleksander Čeferin for enabling Omar Artan to officiate the UEFA Super Cup 2026 match. This is 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.”
I can't be away for a while! A big news comes!
ReplyDeleteThis is a job, not a hobby anymore, to admin the blog! :)
So reading between the lines, it's a very evident signal of the conflict between FIFA and UEFA. If one can praise this choice by Rosetti for some aspects, there could also be contrary arguments (populistic assignments, nevertheless, without merit?), but basically I'm happy about this choice, what FIFA did was unacceptable and Collina and Infantino must learn from that. Even before the start of this tournament, I was about to write, I prefer UEFA and their games, now even more.
Can we really call it "a choice by Rosetti'? I believe it was Ceferin who came with the idea, Rosetti was maybe only asked if he agrees with this, and of course he said yes.
DeleteI'm inclined to believe that the decision regarding Artan was actually shared between Collina and Rosetti, and that ultimately the FIFA Referee Committee preferred not to engage in confrontational behavior in the Somali referee case but to opt for a quality compensatory gesture. I didn't see any conflict between FIFA and UEFA in this, but rather a shared strategy.
DeletePlease also note how they present the situation: they mention the fact that he couldn't be allowed to participate in WC, but they don't write directly against FIFA, rather they say the decision is a result of the Memorandum of Understanding by UEFA and CAF, so apparently an "independent" decision. Technically, it's like "gently" mocking FIFA.
ReplyDeleteIt's incredible, they couldn't write this one better.
Very clever people close to Ceferin and Rosetti.
First of all, congrads to Artan. But the way I see it, Ceferin is after Infantino's job. I wouldn't be surprised if he challenges Infantino in 2027. :)
DeleteJust heard from an insider source close to Rosetti that Artan is already nailed on for the 2027 UCL final. Heartwarming stuff, no one can say it's not 110% deserved.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, more details are surfacing. Apparently Makkelie had already been told he'd get this Super Cup 👀 And now FIFA are quickly acting and appointing the Dutch to the WC final to counter this "snub". Already confirmed behind closed doors - this is highly confidential though.
DeleteWe're in for a serious rollercoaster
ReplyDeleteNo matter how you look at it, the Super Cup is still just the Super Cup. It's a kind of festival. While it attracts certain attention, its value in terms of sports is not particularly significant.
ReplyDeleteSo I think they made the most of that stage at the perfect moment. I want to give UEFA a round of applause.
Yeah, we obviously saw this with Frappart in 2019. Even if she refereed that game quite well imo, it still took her nearly a year to get another appointment in the men's game and she hasn't really been trusted since either
DeleteWhat newish Elite referee will miss out because of this 'war' between UEFA and FIFA? I don't think Makkelie was ever in the run for the Super Cup, slightly harsh treatment to be deemed not good enough for UCL involving PSG but good enough for Super Cup, also with PSG. It feels like Makkelie is beyond this match. Usually we expect to see 'younger' Elite referees for this match. Almost like the step below the UECL final
ReplyDeleteJablonski maybe? I think UEFA value him very highly. Technically it could also be Nyberg or Eskås since they haven't done any UEFA club finals yet.
DeleteAlso I don't think we can't rule out that this turns into a straight exchange between CAF and UEFA and whoever was planned for this game will get the CAF Super Cup instead. Obviously not the same technical level of football, but a final nonetheless
Rumsas was a candidate for this game in my opinion, however a very good remark by the user above, this decision nevertheless also gives us the confirmation about the reputation of UEFA Super Cup by Rosetti and committee.
DeleteI would have guessed one of the more experienced referees, who didn't go to the WC: Sanchez, Massa, Gözübüyük, Gil Manzano
DeleteI am extremley happy becouse what I saw today from Uefa. Great Gestrue and deserved appoitment to Omar Artan. With 32 years the bright future is in front of him!
ReplyDeleteI'm happy for Omar, but UEFA is just using this for PR. Ceferin probably wants to run for FIFA president :)"
ReplyDeleteFrom zero to hero, who knew that LIFE can change that fast in a blink of an eye. The Somali Omar Artan now a worldwide famous referee after failing to become a reserve in the US.
ReplyDeleteIt's like an inspiration story narrated by a well known motivation speaker, Wow, this is a lifetime story of the World Cup ( history in the making) .
I think this is the perfect ending of this inspirational movie
IMO FIFA must retaliate with another Final for Omar Artan, he should be now dreaming of the World Cup final but first CWC final. And in the end of it all he should be proud of not entering the USA