Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan says he has had his World Cup dreams dashed after he was refused entry at the US border.
“I am very, very disappointed,” Artan told The New York Times in a telephone interview from Istanbul, where he was flown to after being turned away. “I’m just simply a referee who’s trying to live his dream, the biggest dream of my life, to come to the World Cup. I had the right papers and everything. I had the right visa.”
He said that he showed documentation from Fifa, as well as photographs of his career of over a decade as a professional referee.
Without naming him, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that a Somali national arrived at Miami International Airport from Istanbul on Saturday and was deemed inadmissible due to vetting concerns.
Somalia’s sports ministry has called for “the entire football community” to support Artan, who has been a Fifa referee since 2018 and was named Africa’s best referee last year.
Ciise Aden Abshir, a senior adviser to Somalia’s Ministry of Youth and Sports and a former national team captain, said: “Omar Artan is among Africa’s most respected referees and deserves the support of the entire football community. Denying him entry to the US and preventing him from officiating scheduled matches harms not only him personally but also undermines football’s commitment to fairness, merit, and the spirit of fair play.”
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World Cup 2026 live: Somali referee breaks silence after being refused entry at US border
