{"id":428,"date":"2026-06-11T20:11:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T20:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=428"},"modified":"2026-06-11T20:11:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T20:11:47","slug":"somali-referee-denied-us-entry-for-world-cup-gets-heros-welcome-back-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=428","title":{"rendered":"Somali Referee Denied US Entry for World Cup Gets Hero\u2019s Welcome Back Home"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Truthout is an indispensable resource for activists, movement leaders and workers everywhere. Please make this work possible with a <\/span><\/i>quick donation<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Read more US Turnaround on International Vaccines Comes Too Late for Hundreds of Thousands<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Omar Artan, the 34-year-old Somali referee who was denied entry to the U.S. for the World Cup, was welcomed in Mogadishu by crowds of supporters on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Artan was refused entry to the U.S. after arriving in Miami, despite the fact that he arrived with a valid U.S. visa and had been invited to officiate at the World Cup. Instead, border officials questioned Artan for 11 hours about his travel and about Somali politics, before transferring him to a holding cell, detaining him for several more hours, and then deporting him to Istanbul. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am very, very disappointed,\u201d Artan told The New York Times<\/em>. \u201cI\u2019m just simply a referee who\u2019s trying to live his dream, the biggest dream of my life, to come to the World Cup.\u201d <\/p>\n

Artan, who was named Africa\u2019s referee of the year in 2025, said that he showed border officials documentation from FIFA and photographs from his decade-long career, and that the officials also verified his career from online sources. Still, they denied his entry, without providing him with a reason. <\/p>\n

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) stated that Artan \u201cwas determined to be inadmissible due to vetting concerns.\u201d <\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the Trump administration said that Artan was denied entry because of links to \u201csuspected members of terror organizations,\u201d without providing evidence.<\/p>\n

Read more US Bombs Water Facilities in Iran, a Possible War Crime Violation<\/a><\/p>\n

Somalia is one of 12 countries under President Donald Trump\u2019s full travel ban. Trump first banned immigrants and visitors from Somalia in January 2017 at the start of his first term, and then renewed the ban in 2025. But participants in the World Cup \u2013 athletes, coaches, and essential staff \u2013 are supposed to be exempt from U.S. travel bans. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think they have a problem with my country,\u201d Artan told the Times<\/em>after being deported to Istanbul. In fact, Trump has shown particular malevolence toward Somalia as well as Somalis in the U.S. In addition to the full travel ban on Somalia, he has peddled white nationalist rhetoric about Somali communities, particularly in Minnesota and Ohio. He has called them \u201cgarbage,\u201d claimed that they \u201ccontribute nothing,\u201d and demonized Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar (D) in particular. <\/p>\n

FIFA, soccer\u2019s international governing body, which had appointed Artan as a referee for the World Cup, did not defend Artan against the Trump administration. In a statement, the organization said that it is \u201cnot involved in host country immigration processes, including visa adjudications \u2026 in line with previous Fifa events, a host government ultimately determines who receives a visa and who is admitted into their country.\u201d <\/p>\n

On Wednesday, however, when Artan landed in Mogadishu, he was welcomed by supporters, and invited as a guest of honor at a soccer match where he was cheered on by thousands of fans. <\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s draconian border policies have already proven an obstacle to the 2026 World Cup. The BBC<\/em> has reported that 11 of the 48 participating countries, all of them from the Global South, have faced travel restrictions or high rates of visa rejections. <\/p>\n

And FIFA has shown itself more loyal to Trump than to the international players. Earlier this week, FIFA directed Haiti\u2019s national soccer team to change its jerseys \u2013 just days before the start of the World Cup \u2013 because the jerseys were supposedly \u201ctoo political.\u201d The jerseys featured imagery that referenced the Haitian Revolution, the first major successful revolt by enslaved people in modern history.<\/p>\n

Read more No Abandonment, No Bunkers: Preparing for Disaster Together<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Trump administration baselessly accused the award-winning referee of having \u201cterror\u201d ties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nSomali Referee Denied US Entry for World Cup Gets Hero\u2019s Welcome Back Home - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=428\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Somali Referee Denied US Entry for World Cup Gets Hero\u2019s Welcome Back Home - Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Trump administration baselessly accused the award-winning referee of having \u201cterror\u201d ties.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=428\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-11T20:11:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=428#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=428\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"headline\":\"Somali Referee Denied US Entry for World Cup Gets Hero\u2019s Welcome Back Home\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-11T20:11:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=428\"},\"wordCount\":631,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=428#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/f1b770b85b6b06d8d0c0d0d190f4de03.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=428#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=428\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=428\",\"name\":\"Somali Referee Denied US Entry for World Cup Gets Hero\u2019s Welcome Back Home - 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