The award-winning Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan has been ruled out of the 2026 World Cupwhich begins on Thursday, after being denied entry into the United States, FIFA informed this Monday (8). “FIFA can confirm that referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan will not be able to coach or referee at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after he was denied entry to the United States,” a FIFA spokesperson told AFP.
It was not clear why the arbitrator was denied entry to the United States.
O referee should be the first Somali to act in a World Cup. At 34 years old, he was one of the 52 referees selected to officiate matches at the 2026 World Cup, the first organized by three countries and with the participation of 48 teams. Holder of FIFA status since 2018, Omar Abdulkadir Artan plays in the Somali league and was elected best referee of the year by the African Football Confederation in 2025.
When contacted by AFP, the American border police (CBP) explained that “on June 6, a Somali citizen arrived at Miami International Airport from Istanbul International Airport… During the procedures, the traveler underwent an additional inspection, a routine step”.
As Ciise Aden Abshir, a senior advisor at the Somali Ministry of Youth and Sports, told AFP, the referee had a valid visa.
“At the end of the inspection, the traveler, a World Cup referee, was considered inadmissible due to issues related to his background check and was denied entry into the territory,” added the agency linked to the United States Department of Homeland Security.
A FIFA highlighted that it did not have the capacity to influence the decision, which, according to him, is the exclusive responsibility of the United States, one of the host countries of the World Cup, alongside Mexico and Canada. “FIFA does not intervene in the host country’s immigration processes, including the granting of visas, and authorities have informed it that Artan’s situation will not change for the time being,” the spokesperson said.
“As with previous FIFA events, it is the host government that ultimately determines who receives a visa and who can enter their country.”
A Somalia is one of several countries whose citizens are subject to travel restrictions to the United States imposed by President Donald Trump’s government. At the end of November, the American president classified the country as a “rotten country” and expressed his intention to end the special status that protects Somali citizens from deportation.
