Somali referee Omar Artan denied US entry, will miss 2026 World Cup debut
Photo: AMISOM Public Information / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
Omar Abdulkadir Artan, the award-winning Somali referee who was set to become the first from his country to officiate at a World Cup finals, has been barred from entering the United States and will miss the 2026 tournament.
Artan was detained at Miami International Airport on Monday after an 11-hour immigration interview, held in a separate cell for several hours, and put on a return flight to Istanbul, Turkey. He had been on the official list of match officials for the tournament, which kicks off on Thursday across host cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
"I am very, very disappointed," Artan said. "I'm just simply a referee who's trying to live his dream — the biggest dream of my life, to come to the World Cup. I had the right papers and everything. I had the right visa."
Fifa confirmed in a statement that Artan "will be unable to train and officiate at the Fifa World Cup 2026 after he was denied entry into the United States," and said it was "not involved in host country immigration processes, including visa adjudications". The world body added that authorities had informed it "Mr Artan's status will not be changed at present".
A senior adviser to Somalia's ministry of youth and sports confirmed the denial of entry and said Artan had been travelling with valid documents. A Somali embassy official in Nairobi told the BBC that a diplomatic passport had been issued specifically to ease his travel after earlier visa difficulties. Somalia is one of several countries on a travel ban list introduced by President Donald Trump's administration.
Asked about the case, Andrew Giuliani, who leads the White House Task Force on the World Cup, told the BBC: "While I can't go into the derog [derogatory information] on that, I can tell you it was the right decision by customs and border patrol and I support that decision."
Artan's removal has no workaround. The tournament's referees' chief, Pierluigi Collina, has set up a mandatory training hub in Miami for all 52 referees and 88 assistant referees, who must remain at the Florida base for preparation, training and security throughout the competition. Officials cannot be based outside the United States and travel in only for matches played in Canada or Mexico.
The case is the latest in a string of visa-related disruptions to hit African delegations ahead of the tournament. A planned friendly between DR Congo and an opponent was <a href="https://nowinafrica.com/dr-congo-friendly-to-be-played-behind-closed-doors/">cancelled behind closed doors</a> over separate entry issues, and South Africa's Bafana Bafana squad was left in limbo for days after a paperwork fiasco threatened their place at the World Cup.
