UEFA rebukes US over controversial Somalia referee Omar Artan! A misstep or rank hypocrisy?

UEFA severely publicly rebukes US for purportedly trampling on the human rights and dignity of a small nation, Somalia.

And they did so unequivocally by appointing Somalia referee Omar Artan, that US barred from officiating at the FIFA World Cup 2026, by denying him entry into the US, to officiate the UEFA Super Cup final in August 2026.

Yet, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has blasted the World Cup for allowing small nations to participate, saying their participation which wouldn’t have been possible without FIFA’s expansion of the World Cup to 48 nations, makes the World Cup less interesting.

And Ceferin’s shocking, unexpected and controversial stance is ironically against the backdrop of UEFA’s recent expansion of its European club competitions with the creation of the UEFA Conference League so that many more small European clubs can finally get to participate in European club competition because they are locked out of the elitist UEFA Champions League and its former sole backup, the UEFA Europa League.

So, is the US rebuke just a misstep on the part of UEFA or rank hypocrisy?

You be the judge.