A referee from Somalia nominated for the World Cup has been refused entry to the USA. The process shows: FIFA cannot guarantee basic conditions. The referee’s rejection is just one of several incidents.
FIFA confirmed in a statement that the World Cup is already over for one of the nominated referees. Omar Artan will take part in the World Cup “neither as a referee nor in training.” Artan was refused entry by the authorities at Miami airport. He flew back to Istanbul, from where he had also traveled.
Artan: “I had the right papers”
Omar Artan was named Africa’s best referee in 2025. The 34-year-old should now referee games at the World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Nothing will come of it now. Customs and Border Protection at Miami Airport confirmed to The Athletic that Artan had been subjected to additional screening. It was discovered that he… “is not authorized to enter the country”. According to FIFA, the authorities announced that “nothing will change” in Artan’s status.
Referee Omar Artan from Somalia is denied entry into the USA.
“I’m very, very disappointed”said Artan to the New York Times. “I had the right papers and a proper visa.” He showed documents from FIFA and pictures from his career as a referee – to no avail. “I think they have a problem with my country.” He announced that he would return to the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday.
What exactly the problem was remained unclear. Somalia is one of the countries that are on a list of general entry bans drawn up by the US government under President Donald Trump. In principle, exceptions should be made to these bans for athletes for international competitions. According to AFP, the Somali sports ministry said Artan had a valid visa for the USA.
Andrew Giuliani, who heads the White House task force, told the BBC that he could not go into details. “But I can tell you that Customs and Border Protection’s decision was the right one, and I support that decision.”
Infantino 2017: “Everyone must be able to enter the country, otherwise there will be no World Cup”
The process calls into question the smooth running of the tournament. In 2017, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said during Donald Trump’s first term: “It is obvious that all teams, officials and fans must have access to the host country. Otherwise there will be no World Cup, that is clear. The requirements will be clear. And then each country can decide whether to apply.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino
The USA successfully applied together with Mexico and Canada in 2018; in the vote at the FIFA Congress in Moscow, the application prevailed over Morocco’s application. Today there is no longer any talk of specifications. “FIFA is not involved in host countries’ entry procedures, including visa decisions”said FIFA. “As with previous FIFA competitions, the host government ultimately decides who receives a visa and who is allowed entry into the country.”
The State Department told several US media outlets that it wanted to support the teams with entry. “At the same time, the administration will not compromise on applying U.S. laws and maintaining the highest standards of national and public safety in our visa process.” At the World Cup in Russia 2018 and the World Cup in Qatar 2022, accreditations and tickets were also considered visas. Such a regulation does not apply to the 2026 World Cup.
The smooth running of the tournament is in question
The decision by the authorities at Miami airport to reject a referee puts the smooth running of the tournament in question. Most teams are already in their training camps. Delegations from associations from countries such as Uzbekistan, Colombia, Senegal, Colombia, DR Congo and Ghana are expected over the course of the week.
Refusing entry of a referee is the culmination of several processes:
- The Swiss national player Breel Embolo only received a visa following a subsequent check and has now joined his team. The background was an argument between Embolo and a group in a Basel nightlife district in 2018. Embolo was sentenced to a fine at the time.
- Iraqi striker Aymen Hussein was detained and questioned at Chicago airport for nearly seven hours, and a team photographer was denied entry.
- Iran’s players are allowed to enter the United States from their training camp in Mexico for their three games in Seattle and Los Angeles, but must return the same day. Many members of the Iranian delegation do not yet have a visa.
- According to the BBC, several Scottish fans had bought expensive tickets and are now stuck with the costs after a visa was refused.
- Many more fans could have problems. Especially from countries where restrictions apply. Fans do not necessarily have to come from the participating countries. Even in countries whose teams did not qualify, fans are interested in the games.
Breel Embolo was only allowed to come to the USA after a check.
Human rights organization sees World Cup in a “climate of fear”
Shortly before the start of the tournament, the human rights organization Sport and Rights Alliance warned of a World Cup in a “climate of fear”. The FIFA motto “Football unites the world” does not resort to mass deportations in the face of entry bans for fans or raids by the immigration authorities ICE.
In a letter to FIFA President Infantino, the SRA demanded: FIFA should obtain the guarantee that “That all qualified teams, media representatives and fans affected by discriminatory visa and entry bans as well as the monitoring of their social media activities will be given equal access to the tournament, regardless of their nationality, religion, gender or political opinion.”. According to its own information, the SRA did not receive an answer. FIFA did not comment on a request from Sportschau.