{"id":692549,"date":"2026-06-09T00:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T00:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/692549\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T00:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T00:36:09","slug":"us-confirms-it-denied-entry-to-somali-referee-set-to-take-part-in-world-cup-world-cup-2026-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/692549\/","title":{"rendered":"US confirms it denied entry to Somali referee set to take part in World Cup | World Cup 2026 News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The United States has denied entry to a top Somali referee who was set to participate in the FIFA World Cup, raising concerns about Washington\u2019s travel restrictions and their impact on the tournament<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed to Al Jazeera on Monday that Omar Artan was not allowed into the country after arriving in South Florida on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

Artan, who is listed as one of FIFA\u2019s 52 World Cup referees, was \u201cdetermined to be inadmissible due to vetting concerns and was denied entry\u201d, a DHS spokesperson said in an email, without providing further details.<\/p>\n

Artan\u2019s arrival in the US, however, suggests that he had a valid visa prior to travel.<\/p>\n

Somalia is on President Donald Trump\u2019s travel ban list. The president has often disparaged the African country and its people. Late last year, he sparked outrage<\/a> when he called Somali immigrants in the US \u201cgarbage\u201d.<\/p>\n

Artan, one of Africa\u2019s top referees, was set to become the first Somali to officiate a World Cup match.<\/p>\n

The denial of entry is the latest controversy surrounding US travel policies and the World Cup<\/a>, which is being cohosted by Mexico and Canada.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s national team has to stay in Mexico due to visa issues. The players will be allowed to arrive in the US to play their game, but they must then return to their base south of the border. Still, some of the team\u2019s staff members were denied US visas altogether.<\/p>\n

There is also growing concern about federal agents harassing foreign nationals or targeting undocumented immigrants in or around stadiums.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York, rebuked the Trump administration\u2019s plans for a surge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the city during the tournament.<\/p>\n

His city is set to host fans for several matches, including the final, which will take place in nearby New Jersey.<\/p>\n

\u201cSoccer would not exist without immigrants. Immigrants play and coach the game, work in the stadiums, fill the stands, and make celebrations like the World Cup possible. Six of the players on the US Men\u2019s National Team are immigrants,\u201d Mamdani wrote in a social media post.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will not allow ICE or anyone else to sow fear in our communities \u2014 especially at this moment. As the world comes to our city, we will stand proudly with our immigrant neighbors and reject these attacks for what they are: an attempt to divide us.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Monday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) decried the travel bans after Artan was denied entry.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur nation should not ban anyone from our shores simply because of their race or their ethnicity. That\u2019s especially true of a coach or referee or anyone else coming to participate in the World Cup,\u201d Edward Ahmed Mitchell, CAIR\u2019s deputy director, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomali visitors go through the same vetting process that other visitors go through, and once someone has gone through that thorough vetting process, there is no reason to ban them from our country simply because of their nationality. Doing so is an affront to our values and the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

FIFA, which awarded Trump its inaugural peace prize<\/a> last year, did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n

DHS has suggested that participation in the World Cup \u2013 including by athletes, coaches, and staff \u2013 does not affect inspection and decisions by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at airports and border crossings.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdmissibility determinations are made on a case-by-case basis using law enforcement, national security, and immigration information available at the time of inspection,\u201d a DHS spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCBP officers have the authority to question travelers, conduct inspections, and determine admissibility consistent with US law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, in an interview with Al Jazeera in Mogadishu, Artan said it was an \u201chonour\u201d to appear on football\u2019s brightest stage despite the hardships and civil strife in Somalia.<\/p>\n

The referee added that, at times, he has had to change his route to his local stadium because of explosions in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou cannot give up as a referee. You have to have a target. I had this target, but it was not an easy job,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to continue, and you have to fight if you want to go to a place like the World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The United States has denied entry to a top Somali referee who was set to participate in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":692550,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[15105,12,10907,3,403,1079,99,21,1209,153412],"class_list":["post-692549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-arts-and-culture","tag-donald-trump","tag-migration","tag-news","tag-soccer","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-us-canada","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=692549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/692550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=692549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=692549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=692549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}