US border officials deny entry to Somali World Cup referee Omar Artan

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Omar Artan in action at the 2025 Under-20 World Cup, a Fifa tournament. Photograph: Héctor Vivas/Fifa/Getty Images theguardian.com

independent.co.uk

Artan is the sole World Cup referee representing Somalia this summer (Getty) Getty

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Omar Artan, a Somali referee selected for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, was denied entry to the United States after arriving at Miami International Airport from Istanbul, according to The Guardian and The Independent. FIFA said on Monday that Artan “will be unable to train and officiate” at the tournament after the US government told football’s governing body that his immigration status “will not be changed at present.” US Customs and Border Protection confirmed that a Somali national intending to referee at the World Cup was refused entry after additional inspection and was deemed inadmissible on “vetting concerns,” without publicly detailing the basis for the decision.

The episode lands in the middle of a tournament logistics problem that FIFA cannot outsource to the host’s border regime. The World Cup is scheduled to run for weeks across multiple venues, relying on a rotating pool of referees, assistants and video officials who need predictable travel and accreditation. Yet Artan’s case is not being described as a paperwork error: CBP framed it as a discretionary admissibility decision taken at the airport, the point at which visas and invitations meet real-time databases and officer judgment.

Somalia is among the countries affected by a broad travel ban imposed by the Trump administration, The Guardian notes, and the lack of a clear explanation makes it difficult for FIFA or the Somali authorities to map a remedy. Somali officials argued the decision cuts against football’s stated commitment to merit and fair play; President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has previously described Artan as an inspiration to young Somalis. For Artan personally, it interrupts a career milestone: he has been a FIFA referee since 2018, officiated at the Africa Cup of Nations, and was named Africa’s best referee in 2023.

The wider pattern is that the World Cup’s “global” brand depends on host countries treating athletes and officials as a special class of visitor, even when the host’s domestic politics runs in the opposite direction. The Guardian reports that other teams and players have faced entry and visa issues in the run-up to the tournament, including Iran relocating its training base from the US to Mexico and Switzerland appealing an entry-visa denial for midfielder Breel Embolo. A system that can be appealed through diplomatic channels may still function for well-resourced federations; for smaller football associations, an airport refusal can be the end of the process.

Artan is understood to be in Istanbul, where he has been based in recent months. FIFA’s statement did not offer a timeline for reconsideration, only that the US government’s position “will not be changed at present.