Football governing body Fifa has removed Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan from the 2026 World Cup officiating roster after American authorities denied him entry into the country, ending what would have been the first World Cup finals appearance by a Somali match official.
Artan, the Confederation of African Football’s men’s referee of the year in 2025, was barred from entering the US at Miami International Airport and is currently in Turkey.
US immigration authorities have not publicly provided a reason for the decision.
In a statement, Fifa said Artan would be unable to participate in the tournament after discussions with US authorities.
I mean this is horrible treatment of him and obvious racism but I don’t think we can fault fifa for removing him for this. Like let’s say you are an expert in brain surgery and there is a conference on brain surgery in France. You plan to go and give a talk. You get to the airport and for any reason you are told you are not allowed to enter France. Your employer is notified. What should they do? Obvious answer to me try to ask nicely to please let you into France, if still denied assign a Co worker of you to give the talk in your place.
What else could fifa do? “well this guy isn’t able to referee so guess lets cancel the world cup” or maybe “technically he’s not allowed in the country but let’s sneak him in by putting him in a suit case and walking very confidently. Then we’ll put him on international TV showing him in the country” or “let’s hire a private militia and try to force the government to accept him”.
Obviously he should be allowed to referee and yes it obvious racism by the government(if there was a real reason they would of said that) and fifa is a corrupt evil company but… Isn’t this the only logical choice for fifa??
Fifa can easily demand the host country to fullfill their obligations, and if not they could let him referree World Cup matches in Mexico and Canada.
True about Mexico and Canada but a demand means nothing without a backing. Your boss can demand or you will be fired. A pilot can demand or you’re kicked off flight. An Uber driver can demand or you will be left behind. Fifa can demand and if denied(sounds like what happened), then what? Yeah it’s a fucked up situation and he should be allowed in to referee but I fifa has no authority to demand he’s allowed entry.
I mean FIFA kinda hosts the whole thing, they have significant power. But they gave Trump a FIFA peace prize and won’t ban Israel despite banning Russia.
The real reason FIFA won’t put in any efort is pretty obvious. It’s a sportswashing tool completely owned by the West.
They have power because they bring tourism to the cities, except they are not selling seats, hotel room or plane tickets as expected by investors according to articles I saw so what power do they have?
This could have been a huge PR win for FIFA, especially given their current reputation. Without digging too much into the logistics:
I don’t know if any of these has been done, but seeing as how FIFA leadership has capitulated to the whims of our asshole-in-chief in the past, it’s tough to believe they would have acted like decent people.
Ok, yeah I will agree with this. Pay him, allow him to operate outside of USA if possible and issue a statement of support. Basically no cost to fifa and good pr. Good choice.
FIFA is about money, first and foremost. Kicking balls around and fairness are really much further down the list. Bowing down to Trump is what is happening here, no 2 ways about it.
Not denying that, but what should they do?
I think if FIFA was going to think logically, they wouldn’t be a corrupt, evil company.
Ok, so you are now in charge of fifa. How do you handle this situation?
Immediately dissolve FIFA, and turn myself in to the proper authorities, and still probably face basically no consequences.
Would you? Like really? That may be a good thought but you work your entire life to gain this career, you build a family on these resources, you build a life on soccer… A guy is not allowed into the US, fuck it let’s abandon everything and decide to live in a jail. Still guy is not allowed in to the US, games still go on but I must easy toast everyday for the rest of my life… Would you do that?
I can only say yes so many times, and also point out again that it would probably include like, a couple weeks or months of jail time, and then I’d be free to go do as much evil shit as I wanted.
Keep him on, but invite another referee to fill his place.
How? Like he physically can’t to the game…
Keep him on the list. Even if he can’t be there, it’s still a sign that you don’t take the decision lying down. Of course, Infantino would not do that because he does not give a single shit about any of this, but you could save face.
And the point being? For example if an actor or actress has their name in the credits at the end of a movie I believe that’s good for their career but would this have any effect?
I mean imagine interviewing this guy “fun fact: I referred the world cup. Ok… I didn’t actually referee the world cup but my name was on a list”. He may be the best carpenter ever but I don’t see the difference in being on the list or not.
Hell, without any searching on a website… Name a single other referee. They do hard work, as do shelf stockers and construction workers, I’m not discounting that. Honestly all this controversy may actually help him. It shows the us as being assholes but… If you ran a local soccer tournament and were looking for a referee, would you DARE turn him down and face the wrath of the internet?
If you don’t get the point of showing the least bit of backbone, I can’t help you.
They should show backbone, the other commentor saying to pay him and try to give him opportunity in Canada or Mexico I agree with. My point is there is no really good solution for them. What backbone do you want them to show on this? What should they do?
You just described a perfectly good solution.
That’s even better than mine, but mine would still be better than to drop him entirely.
The reason FIFA hasn’t done any of the things suggested to you isnt a lack of good options, it’s that FIFA sees no issue with this. Doing anything about this would risk FIFA’s comfy home in Trump’s rear.