FIFA removes Somali referee from World Cup after he is barred from entering the US
Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan in a photo from January 2024.
Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP
Somali referee Omar Artan was removed from the World Cup referee panel after he was prevented from entering the United States, the International Football Federation (FIFA) said on Monday (8).
"FIFA can confirm that referee official Omar Abdulkadir Artan will not be able to train or coach to perform at the 2026 World Cup after being denied entry to the United States", said a spokesperson for the federation.
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Omar Artan, from Somalia, was scheduled to work at the World Cup, but he was barred from entering the USA by the Trump administration when he landed on North American territory, according to an official from the African country to the AFP news agency. Artan went to Turkey after the denial.
The reasons for this expulsion are not yet known, as Artan had a valid visa, said Ciise Aden Abshir, advisor to the Somali Ministry of Youth and Sports.
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Artan "is one of the most respected referees in Africa and (...) denying him entry to the United States and preventing him from working (...) harms not only him personally, but also undermines football's commitment to equity, merit and spirit of fair play", lamented Abshir. "The football community must support him at this difficult time", added the advisor, who is a former captain of the Somali national team.
At FIFA since 2018, Artan has played in the Somali league and was elected Referee of the Year by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in 2025.
Omar Artan would be the first Somali referee to referee World Cup games. At 34, he was among the 52 referees selected to work at this year's edition of the tournament, jointly organized by Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Somalia is in Donald Trump's sights, and is one of several countries whose citizens are subject to a travel ban on the United States, imposed by the Trump administration. At the end of November, the American president described the country as "rotten" and declared his intention to end the special status that protects Somali citizens from deportation.
The Trump administration had not publicly commented on the case until the last update of this report.
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Source: G1