Omar Artan will not referee at the 2026 World Cup. US immigration authorities denied him entry at Miami International Airport. He had been set to become the first Somali referee at a World Cup finals.
FIFA confirmed his removal in a statement. “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,” it read. Artan is currently in Turkey.
US authorities gave no reason for the decision. Somalia sits on a travel ban list under President Donald Trump’s administration. Andrew Giuliani leads the White House Task Force on the World Cup. He told BBC World Service: “While I can’t go into the derog on that, I can tell you it was the right decision by customs and border patrol and I support that decision.”
A senior adviser to Somalia’s ministry of youth and sports confirmed the denial to the BBC. Artan had been travelling with valid documents. A Somali embassy official in Nairobi told the BBC that authorities issued Artan a diplomatic passport to ease his travel after earlier visa difficulties.
The Somali Football Federation contacted FIFA seeking urgent clarification. FIFA said it plays no role in host country immigration decisions. “A host government ultimately determines who receives a visa and who is admitted into their country,” it added.
Artan won the CAF men’s referee of the year award in 2025. He became a FIFA referee in 2018 and has officiated at the Africa Cup of Nations. FIFA had named him among 52 referees for the tournament, which runs from 11 June to 19 July across Canada, Mexico and the United States.
