Omar Artan he was supposed to become the first referee in the history of his country to referee at the World Cup, but that scenario, as things stand now, will not be realized. And for a somewhat unbelievable reason – Artan was refused entry to the United States of America and upon his arrival in the “Land of the free” he was redirected and sent back to Istanbul, where he came from.
– I am very, very disappointed. I’m just a referee trying to realize my biggest dream, to go to the World Cup. I had all the necessary documents and a valid visa. I think they have a problem with my country – said Artan after landing in Turkey in an interview with The New York Times.
And subsequent details revealed that Artan was interrogated by border officials at the Miami airport for a full 11 hours. The 34-year-old faced questions about his trip to the US, as well as Somali politics and the militant group al-Shabab, which is fighting the government there. Although Artan provided them with all FIFA documentation and a visa that was issued to him last week at the Somali embassy in Kenya, the border officials were merciless and banned him from entering the US.
Artan was not officially informed of the reason for the denial of entry, but an anonymous American official on Tuesday cited his “association with suspected members of terrorist organizations” as the reason. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to speak about the matter, which is protected by visa privacy laws. Earlier that day, Andrew Giulianiexecutive director of the White House Task Force on FIFA, said Artan was denied entry for a “very good reason” but declined to elaborate. U.S. Customs and Border Protection previously said Artan was stopped at Miami International Airport on Saturday for “security checks,” also without elaborating.
Meanwhile, Somalia’s Ministry of Youth and Sports said its embassy in the US was trying to resolve the issue so that Artan could still be officiated at the tournament, which starts on Thursday. In 2025, Artan was declared the best male referee in Africa, and FIFA said that they were not involved in the immigration process and that the American authorities informed them that Artan’s “status will not change at the moment”.
