Fifa to pay Somali referee Artan full World Cup fee
Somali referee Omar Artan, who was denied entry to the United States to officiate at the World Cup, will still receive his full tournament fee.
Somali referee Omar Artan, denied entry to the US for the World Cup, will still receive his full tournament fee from Fifa.
What was announced
- Omar Artan was interrogated for 11 hours by US immigration before being denied entry to officiate at the World Cup.
- Despite not participating in the tournament, Fifa has committed to paying Artan's salary.
- Artan has been invited to officiate the Uefa Super Cup on August 12, 2026.
Context
Artan was denied entry due to questions about his links to the Somali militant group Al Shabab.
“"I had the right papers and everything. I had the right visa. I'm just simply a referee who's trying to live his dream, the biggest dream of my life, to come to the World Cup."”
Why this matters: This incident highlights the challenges faced by Somali officials in international events and showcases Artan's achievements.
Original report with a saved translation · English
English · Machine translated · Not human reviewed
Original
Original source text
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Somali referee Omar Artan, who was denied entry to the United States to officiate at the World Cup, will still receive his full tournament fee.
Artan was interrogated for 11 hours by US immigration authorities at Miami International Airport on Monday before being told he would not be allowed into the country after his diplomatic passport and single entry US visa were rejected.
Artan said he had been questioned by border officials over his links to Somali militant group Al Shabab and had told them he knew nothing about the organisation.
"I had the right papers and everything. I had the right visa," said Artan.
Source noteWhy this story appears
This report is shown because it came from Warkasta’s monitored source network and matches the current section, recency, and coverage labels.
Why this story appears
This report is shown because it came from Warkasta’s monitored source network and matches the current section, recency, and coverage labels.
- Source count
- 1
- Sources used
- Hiiraan Online
- Language mix
- English
- Translation status
- Shown in its original language
- AI synthesis
- No AI synthesis is used for this story panel
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