“Of course we won’t change that.”
Referee turmoil before the start of the World Cup: DFB boss Völler reacts
June 9, 2026 – 8:57 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Even at the 2026 World Cup, the DFB cannot avoid the topic of politics. Sports director Rudi Völler comments on the refusal of a referee to enter the country.
William Laing reports from the DFB team headquarters in Winston-Salem
After the disaster in Qatar four years ago, the DFB wanted to keep the topic of politics as far away from the German national team as possible at the 2026 World Cup. But after the measures taken by the US government, which were viewed critically in many places and which, among other things, refused entry to Somali referee Omar Artan shortly before the start of the tournament, the association is once again confronted with unpleasant questions. Sports director Rudi Völler was asked about Artan’s situation on Tuesday. The DFB boss took a stand, but took himself and the team out of the firing line.
“I would have liked it to be different,” said the 66-year-old at a press conference at the DFB team headquarters in Winston-Salem regarding the referee’s refusal to enter the country. But he couldn’t assess the exact background of the whole thing. “I would like to answer it, believe me,” Völler said to the journalist who had previously addressed the topic. “I’m not afraid to answer any political questions now. But I don’t know.”
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“We don’t need any support”
Völler also described the situation surrounding Artan as “a bit of a shame.” However, it is clear to the former striker that he and the national team are “the wrong people to address these problems”. “My gut feeling tells me that this won’t be the last story,” admitted Völler. But: “We’re trying to concentrate on football, play a good World Cup and we’ll see the rest.”
There is also no contact with German politics regarding the situation in the host country, the USA. “We don’t need support, we don’t need any exchange. We know what’s happening, we read the newspapers, we read on the internet,” said Völler. He doesn’t like what’s currently happening. Unfortunately, things cannot be changed.
“We are here to play a World Cup, we want to play football. And that doesn’t mean that we say we don’t want to have anything to do with it or that we aren’t politically interested,” emphasized the 1990 world champion. “That’s not the case at all. Of course we get that, but of course we won’t change that.” Regarding a World Cup boycott that was discussed repeatedly months ago, he also added: “You still have to separate things at the end of the day.”