Salzburg, Austria

Somali referee Omar Artan took charge of the UEFA Super Cup in Salzburg on Wednesday, becoming the first official from outside Europe to referee the annual fixture between the continent’s top two club champions.

Artan led Paris Saint-Germain and Aston Villa onto the pitch at the Red Bull Arena, where the French champions retained the trophy with a 2-1 win.

Artan, 34, oversaw the match that opened Europe’s new season.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia put Paris Saint-Germain ahead after 20 minutes. Aston Villa’s Brian Madjo levelled before the break at 17 years old, becoming the youngest scorer in the competition’s history.

Désiré Doué restored the lead on the hour, and the Champions League holders held on for a second consecutive Super Cup.

Two more East African officials completed Artan’s team. Liban Ahmed of Djibouti and Stephen Yiembe of Kenya ran the lines, extending the African presence across the officiating crew for one of European football’s marquee occasions.

Artan reached Salzburg after a decade of firsts for Somali refereeing. He joined FIFA’s international list in 2018, became the first Somali to referee at the Africa Cup of Nations when he took charge of the Tunisia-Namibia group match in Côte d’Ivoire in January 2024, oversaw the CAF Champions League final in 2025, and collected the CAF Men’s Referee of the Year award in the same year.

FIFA selected him for the 2026 World Cup, an assignment he lost when he was turned away at Miami International Airport and denied entry to the United States.

He returned to competitive duty across the Somali league and refereed the Kuwaiti Premier League title decider in June.

UEFA confirmed that Artan’s appointment followed the cooperation agreement it signed with the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) this year.

Patrice Motsepe, the CAF president, and Aleksander Čeferin, the UEFA president, signed the Memorandum of Understanding on 29 April in Vancouver, Canada, ahead of the 76th FIFA Congress.

The agreement runs until 30 June 2031 and commits both confederations to shared work on youth and women’s football, coaching and referee development, and the exchange of match officials across each other’s competitions.

Motsepe welcomed the appointment in comments published by UEFA. “This is a great honor for Omar Artan and for African referees,” he said. “It’s an excellent example of football bringing together and uniting people.”

Artan framed his rise as an invitation to others. “I was lucky, but I have worked very hard to be here and I’m really proud,” he told UEFA in an interview published ahead of the match.

“As you can imagine, I grew up in a difficult situation, but it didn’t prevent me from pursuing my dreams.” He added, “I believe that if I can succeed, anyone can. You can do whatever you want to do.”