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

NPR · 1:09

56,171 views · 3,121 likes · Jun 9, 2026

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 ret…

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 ret…

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