{"id":348223,"date":"2026-06-09T19:51:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T14:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=348223"},"modified":"2026-06-09T19:51:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T14:21:30","slug":"top-somali-referee-set-to-officiate-world-cup-matches-denied-entry-to-u-s-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/top-somali-referee-set-to-officiate-world-cup-matches-denied-entry-to-u-s-national\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Somali referee set to officiate World Cup matches denied entry to U.S. &#8211; National"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>The\u00a0World Cup\u00a0referee from Somalia, who was\u00a0denied entry to america\u00a0after arriving in Miami and subsequently cut from the tournament by\u00a0FIFA, was set to make history for his country.<\/p>\n<p>Omar Artan was going to be the primary referee from\u00a0Somalia\u00a0to officiate at a World Cup after making FIFA\u2019s final list for the tournament, which was announced two months ago. He&#8217;s certainly one of Africa\u2019s top referees and was named the continent\u2019s best male referee in 2025.<\/p>\n<div class=\"l-article__part\" data-shortcode=\"tp_video_miniplayer\">\n<section id=\"miniplayer_6a281efdd1f24-carousel\" class=\"l-videoCarousel l-videoCarousel--embed c-carousel\" data-video-carousel-play-inline=\"true\" data-video-carousel-init=\"false\" aria-label=\"Video carousel contains 5 videos.\">\n<div class=\"l-videoCarousel__inner\">\n<div class=\"l-videoCarousel__featured\">\n<div class=\"c-video c-videoPlay \" data-iframe-receiver=\"\" data-autoplay=\"\" data-displayinline-featured=\"true\" data-displayinline-type=\"video\" data-displayinline-player-id=\"miniplayer_6a281efdd1f24\" data-displayinline-video-id=\"11895660\" data-displayinline-ratio=\"16:9\" data-displayinline=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/video\/embed\/playlist\/11895660,11894568,11893550,11893381,11892687\/?poster=https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fmedia.globalnews.ca%2Fvideostatic%2Fnews%2Fp73pfvsp4f-ea8tiv8fwl%2FWEB_ARMSTRONG_VANCOUVER_CLEANED_UP.png%3Fw%3D1200%26quality%3D70%26strip%3Dall#autoplay&#038;stickyiframe=miniplayer_6a281efdd1f24\" data-displayinline-playlist=\"11895660,11894568,11893550,11893381,11892687\" data-displayinline-sticky=\"true\" data-permutive-data='{\"content\":{\"name\":\"Vancouver cleaned up ahead of World Cup\",\"type\":\"video\",\"sections\":[\"videos\",\"bc\",\"consumer\",\"crime\",\"health\",\"money\",\"politics\",\"sports\"],\"keywords\":[\"bc-place\",\"bc-place-vancouver\",\"expo-boulevard\",\"false-creek\",\"fifa\",\"fifa-world-cup\",\"finance\",\"short-clip\",\"vancouver\",\"yaletown\",\"global-bc\",\"global-news-hour-at-6-bc\"],\"iab\":{\"categories\":[\"Law and Government\",\"Sports\",\"Sports\/Team Sports\"],\"tags\":[\"Africa\",\"Al Jazeera Media Network\",\"AS FAR\",\"Associated Press\",\"Association football\",\"Border control\",\"CAF Champions League\",\"Canada\",\"Confederation of African Football\",\"Continent\",\"Customs\",\"Diplomatic mission\",\"Donald Trump\",\"East Africa\",\"FIFA\",\"FIFA World Cup\",\"First presidency of Donald Trump\",\"Gianni Infantino\",\"Immigration\",\"Inspection\",\"Kenya\",\"Law\",\"Mamelodi\",\"Mamelodi Sundowns F.C.\",\"Mexico\",\"Miami\",\"Miami International Airport\",\"Mogadishu\",\"Morocco\",\"Penalty kick (association football)\",\"Rabat\",\"Reason\",\"Referee\",\"Somalia\",\"Toronto\",\"Tournament\",\"Travel visa\",\"United States\",\"United States Customs and Border Protection\",\"Vancouver\"]}}}'>\n<div class=\"c-video__inner \">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__placeholder\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-video__image\" alt=\"Click to play video: 'Vancouver cleaned up ahead of World Cup'\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media.globalnews.ca\/videostatic\/news\/p73pfvsp4f-ea8tiv8fwl\/WEB_ARMSTRONG_VANCOUVER_CLEANED_UP.png?w=1040&#038;quality=70&#038;strip=all\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"\" sizes=\"auto, \" data-sizes=\"(min-width: 1040px) 1040px,(min-width: 720px) 720px,450px\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__overlay\"><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"c-video__duration\">2:25<\/time><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__title\">Vancouver cleaned up ahead of World Cup<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"l-videoCarousel__glide glide \">\n<div class=\"glide__arrows c-carousel__buttons l-videoCarousel__buttons\" data-glide-el=\"controls\">\n\t<button class=\"glide__arrow glide__arrow--left c-carousel__button c-carousel__prev l-videoCarousel__button l-videoCarousel__prev c-longform-gallery__prev\" data-glide-dir=\"<\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t<span class=\"sr-only\">Previous Video<\/span><br \/>\n\t<\/button><br \/>\n\t<button class=\"glide__arrow glide__arrow--right c-carousel__button c-carousel__next l-videoCarousel__button l-videoCarousel__next c-longform-gallery__next\" data-glide-dir=\">&#8220;><\/p>\n<p>\t\t<span class=\"sr-only\">Next Video<\/span><br \/>\n\t<\/button><br \/>\n\t\t<button class=\"c-carousel__goto\" data-glide-dir=\"=0\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><\/button>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t<!-- video stream item --><\/p>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<div class=\"c-ad c-ad--bigbox l-article__ad c-ad--tallSticky\">\n<p>Story continues below commercial<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>He was denied entry at Miami International Airport on Saturday over \u201cvetting concerns,\u201d\u00a0U.S. Customs and Border Protection\u00a0said in a press release without giving details of those concerns. Artan was issued a visa to travel to the U.S. last week, in response to the Somalia Embassy in Kenya that processed it.<\/p>\n<p>The move to disclaim a FIFA-appointed match official permission to enter a World Cup host country is very unusual. Artan was resulting from meet up with other World Cup referees at their training base in Miami.<\/p>\n<p>The Somalia Youth and Sports Ministry said on Tuesday that it had not been told why Artan was denied entry and its embassy within the U.S. was making diplomatic efforts to resolve the issue and still allow Artan to referee on the World Cup,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/world-cup-soccer-2026-cb70708367cc68bd94edff66416b3c7d\">which opens on Thursday<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Somalia was certainly one of the countries subjected to\u00a0recent travel restrictions\u00a0last yr under the Trump administration\u2019s\u00a0crackdown on immigration. That raised concerns that fans, players and officials from those countries \u2014 most of that are African \u2014 may be denied entry for the World Cup resulting from the larger crackdown despite having valid visas.<\/p>\n<div class=\"l-article__part\" data-shortcode=\"tp_video\">\n<div class=\"c-video c-videoPlay \" data-iframe-receiver=\"\" data-autoplay=\"\" data-displayinline-featured=\"false\" data-displayinline-type=\"video\" data-displayinline-player-id=\"miniplayer_11229648_6a281efdd5f66\" data-displayinline-video-id=\"11229648\" data-displayinline-ratio=\"16:9\" data-displayinline=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/video\/embed\/11229648\/#autoplay&#038;stickyiframe=miniplayer_11229648_6a281efdd5f66\" data-displayinline-sticky=\"true\" data-permutive-data='{\"content\":{\"name\":\"Trumpu2019s travel ban on 12 countries takes effect\",\"type\":\"video\",\"sections\":[\"videos\",\"national\"],\"keywords\":[\"afghanistan\",\"chad\",\"equatorial-guinea\",\"eritrea\",\"haiti\",\"iran\",\"libya\",\"myanmar\",\"somalia\",\"sudan-and-yemen\",\"the-republic-of-congo\",\"top-news\",\"trump-travel-ban\"],\"iab\":{\"categories\":[\"Law and Government\",\"Sports\",\"Sports\/Team Sports\"],\"tags\":[\"Africa\",\"Al Jazeera Media Network\",\"AS FAR\",\"Associated Press\",\"Association football\",\"Border control\",\"CAF Champions League\",\"Canada\",\"Confederation of African Football\",\"Continent\",\"Customs\",\"Diplomatic mission\",\"Donald Trump\",\"East Africa\",\"FIFA\",\"FIFA World Cup\",\"First presidency of Donald Trump\",\"Gianni Infantino\",\"Immigration\",\"Inspection\",\"Kenya\",\"Law\",\"Mamelodi\",\"Mamelodi Sundowns F.C.\",\"Mexico\",\"Miami\",\"Miami International Airport\",\"Mogadishu\",\"Morocco\",\"Penalty kick (association football)\",\"Rabat\",\"Reason\",\"Referee\",\"Somalia\",\"Toronto\",\"Tournament\",\"Travel visa\",\"United States\",\"United States Customs and Border Protection\",\"Vancouver\"]}}}'>\n<div class=\"c-video__inner \">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__placeholder\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-video__image\" alt=\"Click to play video: 'Trump\u2019s travel ban on 12 countries takes effect'\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/media.globalnews.ca\/videostatic\/news\/bh4krnsvjb-kabs7bv4qw\/MON_TRUMP_TRAVEL_BAN_SITE_THUMB_090625.jpg?w=1040&#038;quality=70&#038;strip=all\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"\" sizes=\"auto, \" data-sizes=\"(min-width: 1040px) 1040px,(min-width: 720px) 720px,450px\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__overlay\"><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"c-video__duration\">0:42<\/time><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__title\">Trump\u2019s travel ban on 12 countries takes effect<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWhen Customs and Border Protection said Omar Artan was found inadmissible due to vetting concerns without specifying the rationale, it might be related to those broader screening measures fairly than any specific allegation against him,\u201d Isse Aden Abshir, a senior adviser on the Somalia sports ministry and a former national team captain, told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-ad c-ad--bigbox l-article__ad c-ad--tallSticky\">\n<p>Story continues below commercial<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Artan subjected to \u2018additional inspection\u2019<\/h2>\n<div class=\"c-inlineSignup\" data-newsletter-inline=\"\">\n<div class=\"c-inlineSignup__image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"170\" height=\"225\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/wp-content\/themes\/shaw-globalnews\/images\/skyline\/national.jpg\" alt=\"Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won't miss a trending story.\">\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"c-inlineSignup__content\">\n<h2 class=\"c-inlineSignup__title\">Get breaking National news<\/h2>\n<p>Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox because it happens so you will not miss a trending story.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cDuring processing, the traveller underwent additional inspection, a routine a part of CBP\u2019s inspection process when officers must confirm information or determine admissibility,\u201d CBP said in its statement on Monday. \u201cFollowing inspection, the traveller, a referee for the FIFA World Cup, was determined to be inadmissible resulting from vetting concerns and was denied entry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It didn\u2019t name Artan and referred only to a Somali national who&#8217;s a World Cup referee. Artan is the one Somali referee chosen for the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>CBP said all travellers searching for entry into the U.S. \u2014 including World Cup players, coaches and staff \u2014 were subject to CBP inspection and vetting.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-tabs\">\n<p>\n\t\t\t<button role=\"tab\" class=\"c-tabs__tab c-tabs__tab--active\" type=\"button\">More on Trending<\/button><br \/>\n\t\t\t<button role=\"tab\" class=\"c-tabs__tab\" type=\"button\">More videos<\/button>\n\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cAdmissibility determinations are made on a case-by-case basis using law enforcement, national security, and immigration information available on the time of inspection,\u201d the CBP statement said. \u201cCBP officers have the authority to query travellers, conduct inspections, and determine admissibility consistent with U.S. law.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>FIFA drops ref from World Cup<\/h2>\n<p>FIFA said it was not involved within the immigration processes and was informed by U.S. authorities that Artan\u2019s \u201cstatus won&#8217;t be modified at present.\u201d It said Artan wouldn\u2019t give you the option to coach and officiate on the World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAccording to previous FIFA events, a number government ultimately determines who receives a visa and who&#8217;s admitted into their country,\u201d FIFA said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-ad c-ad--bigbox l-article__ad c-ad--tallSticky\">\n<p>Story continues below commercial<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Still, FIFA and\u00a0its president Gianni Infantino\u00a0built close ties to\u00a0U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s government\u00a0because the U.S. prepared to co-host with Mexico and Canada, and had publicly stressed how that might help the World Cup run easily.<\/p>\n<p>Infantino didn&#8217;t immediately comment on the problem, while FIFA released a press release on behalf of Artan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDespite the circumstances, I&#8217;m in a positive mood and I&#8217;m focused on the following challenges in my refereeing profession,\u201d Artan said within the statement. \u201cI would really like to thank FIFA and (the African soccer confederation) for all their support and I promise to maintain my refereeing levels up as I consider the long run.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would like to thank the football family for his or her messages and need my colleagues all the most effective success through the World Cup and I stay up for joining them again in future competitions.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>He was to make history for Somalia<\/h2>\n<p>Artan was praised as certainly one of Africa\u2019s best referees and was the ref for the decisive leg of the African Champions League final last month \u2014 Africa\u2019s biggest club soccer game.<\/p>\n<p>He spoke in a recent interview with the Al Jazeera TV network about how he was honoured to be chosen to be the primary Somali to referee on the World Cup and the way he faced challenges in his conflict-torn country in East Africa, including sometimes having to vary his path to training due to explosions within the streets of the capital, Mogadishu.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-ad c-ad--bigbox l-article__ad c-ad--tallSticky\">\n<p>Story continues below commercial<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cYou can&#8217;t hand over as a referee,\u201d Artan said within the interview. This (going to the World Cup) was my big, big goal and I\u2019m really excited.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\n\t\t&#038;copy 2026 The Canadian Press\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The\u00a0World Cup\u00a0referee from Somalia, who was\u00a0denied entry to america\u00a0after arriving in Miami and subsequently cut from the tournament by\u00a0FIFA, was set to make history for his country. Omar Artan was going to be the primary referee from\u00a0Somalia\u00a0to officiate at a World Cup after making FIFA\u2019s final list for the tournament, which was announced two months [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":348224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20691],"tags":[1060,2445,10211,3384,1903,44400,8108,1083,45225,1111,3761,813],"class_list":["post-348223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-cup","tag-denied","tag-entry","tag-matches","tag-national","tag-officiate","tag-referee","tag-set","tag-somali","tag-top","tag-u-s","tag-world"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348223"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":348226,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348223\/revisions\/348226"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}