U.S. bars Africa’s best referee of 2025, who would be the first Somali referee at World Cup

Описание: U.S. immigration officials have barred a popular Somali soccer referee from entering the country to work the World Cup. Somali officials say Omar Artan had a valid visa to enter the U.S., despite the Trump administration’s travel ban on Somali citizens.

Artan was stopped at Miami International Airport by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and repatriated to Turkey, from where he will return home Tuesday. U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a statement that did not directly mention Artan, saying a Somali national was deemed inadmissible due to vetting concerns.

Artan was named Africa’s best referee last year, and he was set to become the first Somali referee to officiate in a World Cup tournament. The president of soccer’s governing body, FIFA, previously addressed concerns around U.S. travel bans by saying teams and officials need to access any World Cup host country, otherwise there would be no World Cup.

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