Omar Artan, the 2025 Confederation of African Football (Caf) men's referee of the year, was set to become the first Somali to officiate at a World Cup finals. Instead, he was barred from entering the United States at Miami International Airport and now sits in Turkey, his dream in ruins.
No reason has been issued by US immigration authorities, but Somalia is one of several countries on a travel ban list introduced by President Donald Trump's administration. Artan had a valid visa and a diplomatic passport issued specifically to ease his travel after earlier visa difficulties, according to a Somali embassy official in Nairobi.
“Somali referee Omar Artan has been dropped from the 2026 World Cup after being denied entry to the United States.”
World governing body Fifa confirmed Artan will miss the tournament. "Fifa can confirm that match official Omar Abdulkadir Artan will be unable to train and officiate at the Fifa World Cup 2026 after he was denied entry into the United States," read a statement. "Fifa is not involved in host country immigration processes, including visa adjudications, and has been informed by authorities that Mr Artan's status will not be changed at present."
The reason for the denial may lie in logistics. Referees' chief Pierluigi Collina has created a training hub for the tournament's 52 referees and 88 assistant referees in Miami. All on-pitch officials must stay at the base in Florida for training, preparation and security, making it impossible for Artan to stay outside the US and only referee matches in Canada or Mexico.
Speaking from Istanbul, where he was flown after being turned away, Artan told the New York Times: "I am very, very disappointed. 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." He added that he had also shown documentation from Fifa and photographs of his decade-long career.
Andrew Giuliani, who leads the White House Task Force on the World Cup, backed the decision. "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," he told BBC World Service.
Artan thanked Fifa and Caf for their support, promising to keep his refereeing levels up. The Somali Football Federation has contacted Fifa seeking urgent clarification. The World Cup runs from 11 June to 19 July.