"I was Questioned for 11 Hours": Somali Referee Omar Artan Speaks Out After U.S. Entry Denial

MIAMI, June 9, 2026  – A Somali football referee set to make history at the World Cup said he was barred from entering the United States after being subjected to an 11-hour interrogation by border officials about his country's politics and militancy.

Omar Artan, who would have been the first-ever Somali official to referee at a World Cup tournament, told The New York Times that the ordeal took place at Miami International Airport.

Despite holding a valid visa and correct documentation, Artan said border agents questioned his motives for traveling to the US and grilled him on Somali politics and the Al-Shabaab jihadist group.

"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 newspaper, adding, "I think that they have a problem with my country."

Artan said he presented officials with official FIFA documentation and photographs documenting his professional refereeing career. Instead, he was placed in a holding cell and deported on a flight back to Istanbul, his initial transit point.

The referee maintained that US authorities never gave him an official explanation for his expulsion.

In response, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirmed that Artan was deemed inadmissible, citing unspecified "vetting concerns." The agency declined to elaborate on the nature of those concerns.

The incident marks a devastating blow for the official, whose selection was viewed as a landmark achievement for football in the Horn of Africa nation, which has spent decades plagued by conflict and political instability.

GAROWE ONLINE