Omar Artan

“I promise you, God willing, that I will attend the next one, I want the Somali public to take comfort in this and remain confident.”

“Somalia is ours, whether things are good or bad. I want to tell our youth not to lose hope in our country. I am now in my country, and there is no other place I want to be.”

“What happened has happened and it was unfortunate. I am grateful for the support Fifa gave me.”

“We referees go through a lot of preparation in terms of getting to know the teams, I always watch the teams play. I like watching European football anyway but, regardless, I go through and do a lot of research on the teams, how they play, learn their behaviours, tactics and a lot of things like that.”

“I believe that if I can succeed, anyone can. You can do whatever you want to do.”

“When we got this call it was, for me and my family, really a very, very happy moment,There’s a big Somali community in Europe and in Austria, and they are over the moon with me officiating a match like this.”

“For me, it’s fantastic that CAF is working with UEFA, the best confederation in the world for referees. The standard in Europe is fantastic and the football they play is very, very good. I believe that CAF referees can learn a lot from UEFA, and UEFA referees can also learn a lot from CAF. It’s mutually beneficial. I’m honoured to be appointed for this huge match. I want to say a big thank you to UEFA, as well as to the CAF president and everybody at CAF.”

“This will be my first match in Europe. Having adventures, making memories and learning new things is always great.”

“I was lucky, but I have worked very hard to be here and I’m really proud, As you can imagine, I grew up in a difficult situation, but it didn’t prevent me from pursuing my dreams.”

“It was a very tough period, A lot of people have sympathy for me, because when someone has been working a lot of years and is supposed to do something, and then can’t do it, it’s very challenging. I really appreciate the support I received throughout the world, though; I’m so grateful.”