Referee Omar Artan takes the pitch prior UEFA Super Cup football match between PSG and Aston Villa at Red Bull Arena (Stadion Salzburg) in Salzburg, Austria on August 12, 2026. [Isa Terli / AFP]
For Omar Artan, Wednesday night's UEFA Super Cup was never simply another assignment.
The 34-year-old Somali referee walked onto the pitch at Salzburg's Red Bull Arena carrying the weight of a missed World Cup opportunity, but left having created a piece of football history of his own.
Artan became the first referee from outside Europe to take charge of the UEFA Super Cup, overseeing the meeting between UEFA Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain and Europa League champions Aston Villa.
PSG eventually prevailed 2-1, but for Artan, the significance of the evening extended far beyond the result. After the final whistle, he left a deeply personal message on the official match ball:
“This was my World Cup.”
The handwritten note captured what the occasion meant to a referee who had endured a turbulent journey to one of the biggest appointments of his career.
Artan had originally earned a place on FIFA's referee panel for the World Cup and travelled to Miami for mandatory preparations ahead of the tournament. Instead of making it to the global showpiece, however, his journey was interrupted at Miami International Airport, where US Customs and Border Protection denied him entry following an 11-hour immigration interview.