34-year-old Somali referee Omar Artan was supposed to become the first judge from his country at the World Cup. Instead, he spent 11 hours being interrogated at Miami airport — and returned home without making a single whistle at the tournament.
What happened in Miami
On Saturday, June 7, Artan flew to Miami from Istanbul with a diplomatic passport and a one-time US visa. After nearly a day of questioning, the Customs and Border Protection Service (CBP) denied him entry and sent him back to Turkey. FIFA assisted the referee during his transit in Istanbul, after which he returned to Mogadishu.
The official statement from the Trump administration came later: an anonymous government representative told ESPN that CBP discovered "derogatory information, including ties to suspected members of terrorist organizations". Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House Working Group on FIFA, stated that the denial was for "very serious reasons" — but provided no details. No evidence, specific names, or organizations were publicly named.
Somalia is on an expanded list of countries with travel restrictions signed by the Trump administration. Although exceptions are provided for World Cup participants, each case is considered individually.
FIFA's response: fee included, position excluded
FIFA President Gianni Infantino called on everyone at a press conference to "calm down and relax", adding that the organization "is not the king of the world that can govern governments and police forces". FIFA confirmed it would not interfere in the host country's immigration policy.
"We always try to find solutions. But sometimes starting to shout and cry right away has the opposite effect".
Gianni Infantino, FIFA President
Meanwhile, according to ESPN, FIFA will still pay Artan his full fee for all scheduled matches — despite his absence from the tournament. Keith Hackett, former PGMOL director and ex-FIFA referee, commented to Football Insider that this is insufficient and demanded a separate "discretionary payment," as FIFA "let the referee down," according to him.
UEFA did what FIFA didn't dare to do
A few weeks after the deportation, UEFA — after consultations with CAF — appointed Artan as the head referee of the 2026 UEFA Super Cup between PSG and Aston Villa. The match will take place on August 12 in Salzburg. Artan will become the first African referee to officiate a major UEFA final.
Artan has been on FIFA's international list since 2018 and was named CAF's best referee in 2025. In Mogadishu, he was welcomed as a hero — several Somali officials viewed the US refusal as an insult to the country, which has made significant progress in developing football.
Fee payment without matches is compensation for reputational and financial losses. But it does not answer the main question: if suspicions of ties to terrorists were serious enough for deportation, why did FIFA include Artan on the World Cup referee list — and did it check this independently before the tournament?
