Somali referee denied U.S. entry, misses first World Cup assignment

Omar Abdulkadir Artan’s bid to become the first referee from Somalia to officiate at a World Cup ended at Miami International Airport, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection denied him entry over “vetting concerns.” The decision blocked a milestone that Somalia’s football community had treated as historic, and it turned a single visa ruling into a wider test of how U.S. border policy can shape the symbolism of a global tournament.

Artan had been named to FIFA’s final 2026 World Cup refereeing list, making him the first Somali referee set for the men’s World Cup finals. FIFA said its officiating group for the tournament would include a record 52 referees, 88 assistant referees and 30 video match officials from all six confederations and 50 member associations. Artan, widely admired at home and named Africa’s best male referee in 2025, was due to join other officials at a training base in Miami before the denial ended that assignment.

CBP said Artan, described by the agency as a traveler who was a referee for the FIFA World Cup, underwent additional inspection, was found inadmissible and was denied entry. The Somalia Embassy in Kenya said he had been issued a U.S. visa the previous week. FIFA later said he would be unable to train and officiate at the 2026 World Cup, underscoring the reality that host governments ultimately control visas and admission even for elite sporting personnel. The case also reverberated because Somalia is among the countries affected by the Trump administration’s travel restrictions, though athletes and essential sporting staff have been discussed as exempt in related policy questions.

Artan returned to Mogadishu on Wednesday, where hundreds of supporters, government officials and members of Somalia’s football community greeted him at Aden Adde International Airport. Somalia’s Minister of Youth and Sports and officials from the Somalia Football Federation welcomed him in the VIP terminal, draped him in the Somali flag and escorted him through the airport as a crowd cheered his arrival.

Speaking after his return, Artan said he planned to be at the next World Cup and urged Somali youths to be proud of their country. “It is up to all of us to defend the Somali name,” he said, adding, “Somalia belongs to us, whether it is in a bad state or a good state. That flag belongs to us, and that passport belongs to us.” In a country marked by decades of war and the long shadow of al-Shabab, the welcome back home turned a personal setback into a national moment.