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Artan to referee UEFA Super Cup after losing World Cup spot

Somali referee Mohamed Artan, removed from the World Cup after the US denied his visa, has been assigned by UEFA to officiate the 14 August Super Cup final. UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin called it "a response to an unfair situation."

Empty football pitch on a dim overcast evening
Empty football pitch on a dim overcast eveningPhoto: Erik Mclean / Pexels
BBC Africa2 h ago
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In a formal statement from Geneva, UEFA announced Artan will officiate Real Madrid versus Manchester City in the Super Cup. The appointment shifts Hungarian Istvan Kovacs to a fourth-official role. Artan had drawn the UEFA Referees Committee's attention with his handling of a Turkey Süper Lig match in Istanbul.

Artan told BBC Sport: "Losing my FIFA assignment was the toughest moment of my life; I am grateful for UEFA's confidence." Somali Football Federation president Abdiqani Said Arab called it a "deserved recognition." The US State Department confirmed to Reuters that the visa application was denied "for case-specific administrative reasons."

The UEFA Super Cup is on 14 August at Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. The new line-up keeps Lale Smitman as VAR coordinator. Federations of Mali, Senegal and Tunisia issued a joint statement expressing "strong support for African refereeing."

RegulationAfricaBBC Africa
Source: BBC Africa
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This article is an AI-curated summary of the original story published by BBC Africa. The illustration is a stock photo by Erik Mclean from Pexels and is not from the original story.

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