Somali referee Omar Artan, who faced a setback in his career by being denied entry to the United States for the World Cup, has been appointed to officiate the UEFA Super Cup match between Paris St-Germain and Aston Villa on 12 August in Salzburg.

The match features PSG, the reigning Champions League winners, and Aston Villa, who emerged victorious in the Europa League. This decision followed discussions between UEFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin praised Artan as an "excellent young but already experienced referee" who has demonstrated his skills at the highest levels of CAF competitions. He emphasized the importance of football in connecting people and expressed gratitude to CAF president Patrice Motsepe for his support of Artan's nomination.

Artan, who was named the 2025 CAF men's referee of the year and has been on FIFA's international list since 2018, was initially set to become the first Somali referee to officiate at the World Cup finals. However, he was turned away by border officials in Miami, despite holding a diplomatic passport and a valid US visa.

A US government official cited an alleged "association with suspected members of terror organizations" as the reason for his denial. This situation arose from travel restrictions imposed by President Donald Trump affecting several countries, including Somalia. Artan was questioned about his links to the militant group Al Shabab and maintained that he had no knowledge of the group, stating, "I had the right papers and everything. I had the right visa. I'm just simply a referee who's trying to live his dream, the biggest dream of my life, to come to the World Cup."