Dale JohnsonFootball issues correspondentMonday June 15, 2026
Somali referee Omar Artan will still be paid in full for the World Cup, despite being turned away from the United States before he could take up his duties at the tournament.
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Artan spent 11 hours being questioned by US immigration officials at Miami International Airport on Monday before authorities refused him entry after rejecting both his diplomatic passport and single-entry US visa.
A US government official said Artan had been barred from entering the country over an alleged “association with suspected members of terror organisations”.
Artan said border officials asked him about supposed links to the Somali militant group Al Shabab, but he insisted he told them he knew nothing about the group.
“I had the right papers and everything. I had the right visa,” said Artan.
“I’m just simply a referee who’s trying to live his dream, the biggest dream of my life, to come to the World Cup.”
After being placed on a flight back to Turkey, Artan received help from Fifa officials in Istanbul before continuing on to Mogadishu, the Somali capital.
Sources told BBC Sport that although Artan will not officiate at the World Cup, Fifa has agreed to pay him his salary.
Referees are not told the exact fee they will earn for the tournament, with payments made after the competition has finished.
Artan, named the 2025 Confederation of African Football (Caf) men’s referee of the year, has since been invited to take charge of the Uefa Super Cup between Paris St-Germain and Aston Villa in Salzburg, Austria, on 12 August.
The 34-year-old, who thanked “my people and my country” after returning home, has said he intends to referee at the 2030 World Cup.
2025 was a landmark year for Artan, as he became the first Somali to officiate a continental final.
In June 2025, he handled the second leg of Pyramids FC’s African Champions League final win over Mamelodi Sundowns.
Fifa also selected Artan for the U-20 World Cup in Chile, where he oversaw three matches, including the third-place play-off.
By the end of the year, he had taken charge of two group-stage matches at the Africa Cup of Nations, after also officiating at the tournament in 2024.
