A Somali referee selected by FIFA to officiate World Cup matches has been denied entry to the United States, for unspecified reasons .
Omar Abdulkadir Artan had a valid visa, said Ciise Aden Abshir, senior adviser to the Somali Ministry of Youth and Sports. Somalia is one of several countries whose citizens are subject to the Trump administration's travel ban to the United States.
Omar Abdulkadir Artan "is among the most respected referees in Africa" and "denying him entry to the United States and preventing him from officiating not only harms him personally but also undermines football's commitment to fairness, merit and the spirit of fair play," Abshir lamented.
Abdulkadir Artan, 34, was set to become the first Somali referee to officiate a World Cup finals. A FIFA-certified referee since 2018, he was named the Confederation of African Football (CAF)'s Best Referee of the Year 2025 .
"I'm very disappointed," Artan said in an interview with the New York Times. "I'm just a referee trying to fulfill my dream, the biggest dream of my life: to participate in the World Cup. I had the right documents and everything, I had the right visa. But I think they have a problem with my country."
The referee said he was interrogated throughout the night, approximately 11 hours , in a small room. He was then taken to a separate holding cell where he was held for several hours before being placed on a return flight to Istanbul. Artan said he was shown FIFA documentation and photographs from his decade-long career as a professional referee , with border officials also checking online material detailing his career.
Among the many questions, the referee—who will now return to Mogadishu—was grilled about the political situation in Somalia. Many of them related to the militant group Al Shabab, which controls parts of Somalia and has been waging a guerrilla war against the government for years.
Gianni Infantino's FIFA, a close friend of Donald Trump, shrugged and declared that it had no power to influence the decision, which is the sole responsibility of the hosting countries : "The Federation is not involved in the host country's immigration processes, including visa decisions, and has been informed by the authorities that Artan's status will not be changed at this time. In line with previous FIFA events, the host government determines who receives visas and who is admitted to the country."
