Omar Artan, one of 52 referees FIFA appointed to the 2026 World Cup, was turned back at Miami International Airport on Sunday 7 June, days before the tournament he was selected to officiate begins. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the federal agency that controls entry at the border, held that the Somali official was "inadmissible due to vetting concerns" despite a valid visa issued before he travelled 1. Somalia sits on the Donald Trump travel-ban list. Artan, named 2025 male referee of the year by CAF (the Confederation of African Football), would have been the first Somali to officiate a World Cup match.
A barred referee on the eve of kickoff moves the access dispute off the terraces and into the officiating crew. Until this week the visa fight was about supporters: roughly 150 Ghanaian fans were refused entry and 27 of the 48 qualified nations faced US visa barriers . Now it reaches the people who run the matches. FIFA's reply was the disclaimer it has used all spring, that it "is not involved in host country immigration processes" and "the host government ultimately determines who receives a visa" 2.
FIFA awarded the United States co-hosting rights in 2018, years before the current travel ban existed, and the bid agreement carried no carve-out for accredited officials. Accreditation grants tournament credentials but no immigration standing, so a vetting flag can override a FIFA appointment at the jet bridge. FIFA had named no replacement as of 9 June, leaving the fixtures Artan was assigned, balanced across the 52-strong pool by confederation and language, to be reallocated.
