MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A World Cup referee from Somalia who was denied entry to the United States was received by a crowd of supporters and officials Wednesday as he arrived home in the capital of Mogadishu, where he said he plans to be at the next World Cup and urged Somali youth to be proud of their country.
Omar Artan was set to be the first referee from Somalia to officiate at a World Cup after making FIFA’s final list for the tournament. He is one of Africa’s top referees and was named the continent’s best male referee in 2025.
He was denied entry at Miami International Airport on Saturday over “vetting concerns,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement, without giving details of the concerns. FIFA subsequently cut him from the tournament’s referee list.
Artan was issued a visa to travel to the U.S. last week, according to the Somalia Embassy in Kenya, which processed it. The U.S. is co-hosting with Mexico and Canada, and Artan was due to meet up with other World Cup referees at their training base in Miami.
He returned to a hero’s welcome in Mogadishu, where he thanked the Somali government and people as well as FIFA for their support for him.
“I promise you, God willing, that I will attend the next one,” he said as hundreds of supporters at the airport waved Somali flags. “I want the Somali public to take comfort in this and remain confident.”
The U.S.’s highly unusual move to deny a FIFA-appointed match official permission to enter a World Cup host country drew outrage across the world and raised questions among some fans about America’s capacity to host the competition.
Somalia is one of nearly 40 countries subject to new travel restrictions under the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.
Hundreds of supporters, government officials and members of Somalia’s football community gathered hours before Artan arrived at Aden Adde International Airport.
As he disembarked, supporters waving Somali flags crowded around him before draping him in the flag.
He was then escorted by police officers to the airport’s VIP terminal, where he was welcomed by Somalia’s sports minister and other dignitaries, and spoke to journalists.
“It is up to all of us to defend the Somali name,” Artan said. “Somalia belongs to us, whether it is in a bad state or a good state. That flag belongs to us, and that passport belongs to us.”
In a country where decades of war and the rise of the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group have limited the potential of many in Somalia, Artan’s denial brought disappointment but reminded people what is possible if they chase their dreams.
Artan’s expected milestone at this year’s World Cup “stands no matter what,” the World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus — from neighboring Ethiopia — wrote Tuesday on X. “You reached the summit of your profession and inspired a generation back home just by getting there, and being kept off the pitch you earned doesn’t change that.”
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