Ruled out of the World Cup, referee Omar Artan has been handed the European Super Cup by Uefa. The Somali official saw his dream of working at the global showpiece collapse when US authorities refused him entry last June. Now he will take charge of his first match on the old continent tomorrow, the meeting between PSG and Aston Villa that awards the first trophy of the season.
Artan had already been thrust into the spotlight before the start of the World Cup in the United States, after officials turned him away on arrival at Miami International Airport despite his place in the group of referees selected by Fifa for the tournament. "It has been a very difficult period - the referee's words in an interview with the Uefa website -. Many people showed me solidarity, because when you work for years to bring a project to fruition and in the end you cannot complete it, it is a really tough situation to deal with".