Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan was meant to be in Miami for the biggest assignment of his career. Instead, the 34-year-old was sent back to Turkey after US border officials denied him entry despite holding a visa and a letter from FIFA.
Artan, who was named Africa’s best referee in 2025 by the Confederation of African Football, was removed from FIFA’s World Cup officiating list after being turned away at Miami International Airport.
He had travelled from Kenya through Istanbul and said he arrived with “the right papers and everything.”
“I am very, very disappointed. 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,” Artan told The New York Times in his first interview since the incident. He spoke by phone from Istanbul after being denied entry.
“I had the right visa,” he said. “I showed them documentation from FIFA and photographs from my career of over a decade as a professional referee.”
Artan said border officers searched for information about him online during screening. He spent 11 hours in an immigration interview before being moved to a holding cell for several more hours and later placed on a flight back to Istanbul.
He said officials never explained why he was refused entry.
“I think that they have a problem with my country,” Artan said.
US Customs and Border Protection confirmed the incident.
“The traveler underwent additional inspection, a routine part of CBP’s inspection process when officers need to verify information or determine admissibility,” the agency said.
“Following inspection, the traveler, a referee for the FIFA World Cup, was determined to be inadmissible due to vetting concerns and was denied entry.”
Artan’s exclusion has shocked many in African football. The Somali official had overseen major CAF Champions League matches and was widely expected to work at the World Cup after winning the 2025 award. FIFA has since replaced him on the roster, ending his World Cup dream.
