Omar Abdulkadir Artan is 34 years old, Somali, and was voted the best referee in Africa in 2025. A few months ago, FIFA confirmed to him that the lifelong dream of attending a World Cup was about to come true. He obtained all the documentation, all the permits, and boarded a plane bound for Miami with more than enough time to acclimatize. However, as soon as he landed, the dream turned into a nightmare.
Artan is one of the 52 selected referees, seven of them Africans. He has been training for the last decade, traveling to places like Qatar or the United Arab Emirates due to the low level of football and the difficult conditions in his home country. But as soon as he reached the Miami customs counter on Saturday afternoon, problems began. The referee explained to The New York Times that he had all the correct documentation, the right visa, FIFA documentation. It was all in vain.
He stated that the interview with immigration authorities lasted all night, with many questions about politics in Somalia and terrorist groups, and only ended after 11 hours. At that point, without any explanation as to why they were not allowing him entry, he was taken to a detention cell where he remained for several more hours before being put on a return flight. "I am very, very disappointed. I am just a referee trying to fulfill his dream, the biggest dream of my life: to go to the World Cup," he said. It is not clear if he will travel to Canada or Mexico for some of the matches outside the US.
His main problem is his passport. Somalia is by far the most criticized, insulted, and denigrated nation by Donald Trump. During the 2024 election campaign, he targeted Haitians, spreading an absurd fake story about them eating cats in Ohio villages. However, his fury is unleashed against Somalia, largely due to his hatred for Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar, of Somali origin, and the large Somali community in the state of Minnesota, which has not chosen a Republican for over 20 years. Trump has called it a "shithole country," "dirty, disgusting, full of crime and a disaster," whose population "contributes nothing," are "garbage," and only know how to "pirate ships." That is why he has not only canceled refugee protection programs but also implemented a very strict entry ban for nationals, citing issues with document verification, lack of state control over part of the territory, and "national security risks."
The same applies to the team with the most problems and in the eye of the storm. Iran has been in a more or less open war with the US since February. The presence of the Iranian team has been in doubt since then for obvious reasons, and even the White House speculated about giving their spot to Italy. They are finally participating, but they had to relocate their headquarters to Tijuana, Mexico. Although they have their matches in the US, they will only travel for a few hours, unable to stay overnight.
State media have reported that around 15 officials and delegation members, considered "essential," have not received visas and will not be able to set foot in the US. On Tuesday, the Iranian Federation explained that the coercion increased after Washington, with an unclear role from FIFA, revoked the corresponding allocation of tickets for their fans for the group stage matches, played in Los Angeles and Seattle. "We are outraged by this behavior," criticized coach Amir Ghalenoei.
In a statement, the Iranian federation said that despite starting ticket sales, they could no longer distribute them. "Depriving Iranian fans of access to their tickets, legally and officially assigned, is an action contrary to the spirit of international competitions and the principle of equality among participating countries. This situation raises serious doubts about political considerations interfering with the organization of the world's biggest football event," they lamented.
In recent hours, images of the treatment received by the Senegal and Uzbekistan teams, coached by Fabio Cannavaro, have gone viral. Abrupt instructions, metal detectors and pat-downs on the track or when entering the stadium, thorough inspection of their backpacks and suitcases, police dogs sniffing all belongings. With the expressed doubt of whether something like this would be conceivable with other teams.
There is more. The first case of a player affected was Swiss star Breel Embolo, who could not travel with the rest of the team after his ESTA authorization, mandatory for any European tourist, was frozen. The reason was a ruling on an altercation he was involved in in Basel in 2018. However, days later, he was able to join the team.
The next case was that of Iraqi forward Aymen Hussein, one of the few figures in the team and the man who scored the decisive goal for qualification, who was detained and interrogated for seven hours at Chicago's O'Hare airport after arriving with the rest of his team on Saturday. Hussein, outraged after having to hand over his phone for all its content to be downloaded, managed to pass the check, but the team's photographer, after 10 hours of questioning in a closed room, was expelled.