Somali Referee Omar Artan Denied Entry to U.S. for World Cup

Omar Artan’s World Cup dream ended not with a whistle, but at a passport desk in Miami.

The Somali referee, who was set to become the first person from his country to officiate at a World Cup, has been ruled out of the tournament after being denied entry into the United States by Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Artan arrived at Miami International Airport on Saturday on a flight from Istanbul. There, routine checks turned into a decisive setback.

According to a CBP statement, a Somali national scheduled to referee at the World Cup was subjected to “additional inspection,” a step the agency described as a standard part of its process when officers need to verify information or determine admissibility. After that inspection, CBP said, the traveller — “a referee for the FIFA World Cup” — was “determined to be inadmissible due to vetting concerns and was denied entry.”

The statement did not name Artan. It did not need to. He is the only World Cup referee from Somalia.

FIFA later confirmed that Artan will take no part in the tournament, unable to train or officiate on U.S. soil.

“FIFA is not involved in host country immigration processes, including visa adjudications, and has been informed by authorities that Mr. Artan’s status will not be changed at present,” football’s governing body said. “In line with previous FIFA events, a host government ultimately determines who receives a visa and who is admitted into their country.”

CBP stressed that every traveller heading into the U.S. — “including athletes, coaches and staff” — faces the same legal framework and scrutiny at the border. Officers, the agency noted, make admissibility calls “on a case-by-case basis” using law enforcement, national security and immigration information available at the time, with the authority to question travellers, conduct inspections and decide who gets in under U.S. law.

For Artan, the timing could hardly be crueller.

He stood on the brink of a historic appearance, poised to carry Somalia’s flag into the elite refereeing ranks on the sport’s grandest stage. He had just been named 2025 Confederation of African Football (CAF) men’s referee of the year, recognition of a rapid rise through the African game.

Instead of walking out into a World Cup stadium, he walks away from a tournament he had earned on merit, left on the wrong side of a border decision that will not be reversed.