THE World Cup referee from Somalia who was denied entry to the United States after arriving in Miami and subsequently cut from the tournament by Fifa was set to make history for his country.

Omar Artan was due to become the first referee from Somalia to officiate at a World Cup after making Fifa’s final list for the tournament, which was announced two months ago. He is one of Africa’s top referees and was named the continent’s best male referee in 2025.

He was denied entry at Miami International Airport on Saturday over “vetting concerns,” US Customs and Border Protection said in a statement without giving details of those concerns. Artan was issued a visa to travel to the US last week, according to the Somali embassy in Kenya that processed it.

Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House Fifa Task Force, said Tuesday the referee was denied admittance for “very good reason” but also declined to go into details.

Later on Tuesday, a US official said the referee was refused admission due to “association with suspected members of terror organisations.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a matter that is covered by visa privacy laws.

The move to deny a Fifa-appointed match official permission to enter a World Cup host country is highly unusual. Artan was due to meet up with other World Cup referees at their training base in Miami.

Somalia is one of nearly 40 countries subjected to new travel restrictions under the Trump administration’s strict crackdown on immigration. That raised concerns that fans, players and officials from those countries, most of which are African, might be caught up in the crackdown and denied entry for the World Cup despite having valid visas.

Questioned for hours at airport

Artan told The New York Times he was interviewed at Miami airport for 11 hours by border officials, who asked him why he’d travelled to the US and questioned him about Somali politics and the al-Shabab militant group that is fighting an insurgency against the government there. He showed them Fifa documentation and photos from his refereeing career, he said.

After the questioning, he was put in a holding cell and sent back on a plane to Istanbul, Turkey, from where he’d taken his connecting flight to the US.

“I think that they have a problem with my country,” Artan told The New York Times, adding he had the correct documents and visa. He said he wasn’t told why he was refused entry, according to the Times.

The Somalia Youth and Sports Ministry said on Tuesday that its embassy in the US was trying to resolve the problem to allow Artan to referee at the World Cup, which begins today.

The refusal to allow him into the US might be related to the larger travel restrictions on Somalia “rather than any specific allegation against him,” Isse Aden Abshir, a senior adviser at the Somalia sports ministry, told AP.

Artan subjected to ‘additional inspection’

Customs and Border Protection said in a statement Monday that Artan “underwent additional inspection” on arrival and called it “a routine part of CBP’s inspection process when officers need to verify information or determine admissibility.”

“Following inspection, the traveller, a referee for the Fifa World Cup, was determined to be inadmissible due to vetting concerns and was denied entry,” CBP said.

CBP said all travellers seeking entry into the US, including World Cup players, coaches and staff, were subject to CBP inspection and vetting.

“Admissibility determinations are made on a case-by-case basis using law enforcement, national security and immigration information available at the time of inspection,” the CBP statement said. “CBP officers have the authority to question travellers, conduct inspections and determine admissibility consistent with US law.”

Fifa drops ref from World Cup

Fifa said it was not involved in the immigration processes and was informed by US authorities that Artan’s “status will not be changed at present.” It said Artan wouldn’t be able to train and officiate at the World Cup.

“In line with previous Fifa events, a host government ultimately determines who receives a visa and who is admitted into their country,” Fifa said.

Still, Fifa and its president Gianni Infantino built close ties to US President Donald Trump’s government as the US prepared to co-host with Mexico and Canada and had publicly stressed how that would help the World Cup run smoothly.

Infantino did not immediately comment on the issue, while Fifa released a statement on behalf of Artan.

“Despite the circumstances, I am in a positive mood and I am focused on the next challenges in my refereeing career,” Artan said in the statement.

Hero’s welcome

Artan was praised as one of Africa’s best referees and was the ref for the decisive leg of the African Champions League final last month — Africa’s biggest club football match.

Today, the United Nations’ top human rights official called for a “massive rethink” of immigration policies, especially in the US around the World Cup.

Hundreds of supporters, government officials and members of Somalia’s football community gathered hours before Artan arrived at Aden Adde International Airport today.

As he disembarked, supporters waving Somali flags crowded around him before draping him in the flag.

“I promise you, God willing, that I will attend the next one,” he said. “I want the Somali public to take comfort in this and remain confident.”

Artan’s expected milestone at this year’s tournament “stands no matter what,” the World Health Organisation director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus — from neighbouring Ethiopia — wrote Tuesday on X. “You reached the summit of your profession and inspired a generation back home just by getting there, and being kept off the pitch you earned doesn’t change that.”