As the 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada prepares to kick off this Thursday in the U.S., a historic breaking development has upended expectations for one of Africa’s top soccer officials. Omar Artan, the Somali referee set to become the first official from his conflict-affected East African nation to officiate at a men’s World Cup, has been denied entry to the United States at Miami International Airport and subsequently removed from the tournament’s official roster by FIFA.
Artan’s path to the World Cup was a story of perseverance against extraordinary odds. Selected for FIFA’s final referee roster two months ago, he had already earned recognition as the African Football Confederation’s 2025 Best Male Referee, and just last month he handled the decisive second leg of the African Champions League final, the continent’s most high-profile club soccer fixture. In a recent interview with Al Jazeera, Artan opened up about the daily challenges he has navigated building his career in Somalia, where ongoing instability in the capital Mogadishu often forced him to change his route to referee training to avoid street explosions. Despite these barriers, he called the World Cup selection his life’s biggest goal, saying “You cannot give up as a referee.”
Last week, Artan was issued a valid U.S. travel visa through the Somali Embassy in Kenya, which processes the country’s U.S. visa applications. But when he arrived in Miami Saturday to join the global cohort of World Cup referees for their pre-tournament training camp, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detained him for additional screening, a step agency officials described as routine for verifying traveler admissibility. Following the inspection, CBP ruled Artan inadmissible to the U.S. citing unspecified “vetting concerns”, and did not elaborate on the nature of those concerns in its official statement. In an unusual detail, CBP did not name Artan in its statement, only referencing a Somali national who is a World Cup referee — a description that applies exclusively to Artan, the only Somali official selected for this year’s tournament.
The incident follows a pattern of travel restrictions implemented by the Trump administration last year that targeted a list of mostly African nations, including Somalia, with heightened immigration screening and entry limits. Even before Artan’s denial, soccer stakeholders had raised concerns that players, fans and officials from these restricted countries could face entry barriers to the U.S.-hosted World Cup despite holding valid travel visas. As of Tuesday, Somalia’s Ministry of Sports and Youth said it had still not received a formal explanation for why Artan was turned away, and the country’s U.S. embassy has launched urgent diplomatic efforts to reverse the decision and clear Artan to take up his place at the tournament.
In a public statement following the denial, FIFA confirmed it would remove Artan from the World Cup roster, noting that host national governments retain final authority over entry and visa decisions for event participants. The governing body added that it had been informed by U.S. authorities that Artan’s admissibility status would not be adjusted in time for the tournament, making it impossible for him to complete required pre-tournament training or officiate any matches. The decision comes amid longstanding close ties between FIFA leadership, including president Gianni Infantino, and the Trump administration, ties that Infantino and FIFA had publicly highlighted as a guarantee of smooth operations for the 2026 co-hosted tournament. Infantino has not issued any public comment on Artan’s case as of press time.
In a statement released through FIFA, Artan struck a measured, optimistic tone despite the disappointment. “Despite the circumstances, I am in a positive mood and I am focused on the next challenges in my refereeing career,” he said. He thanked FIFA and the African Football Confederation for their support, extended well wishes to his fellow referees ahead of the tournament, and said he looked forward to competing in future global competitions.