{"id":248323,"date":"2026-06-15T00:32:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T00:32:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/15\/somali-referee-omar-artan-to-be-paid-for-his-fifa-world-cup-assignments-despite-being-refused-entry-into-the-usa-reports\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T00:32:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T00:32:48","slug":"somali-referee-omar-artan-to-be-paid-for-his-fifa-world-cup-assignments-despite-being-refused-entry-into-the-usa-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/15\/somali-referee-omar-artan-to-be-paid-for-his-fifa-world-cup-assignments-despite-being-refused-entry-into-the-usa-reports\/","title":{"rendered":"Somali referee Omar Artan to be paid for his FIFA World Cup assignments despite being refused entry into the USA: Reports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5179395\" data-slug-id=\"2795057\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Somali referee Omar Artan will receive his full pay for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/go\/fifa-world-cup\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">2026 World Cup<\/a> from FIFA despite being denied entry into the United States, as per reports.<\/p>\n<p>Artan was one of the 52 referees appointed by FIFA to officiate in north America this summer, but upon his arrival at Miami International Airport, he was refused entry into the United States.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"template__newsletter-inline-banner-form-combo-widget\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<p><img id=\"subscribe-img\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\nThanks for the submission!\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) cited \u2018vetting concerns\u2019 as the reason for his inadmissibility, after which FIFA confirmed that Artan will be unable \u2018to train and officiate\u2019 at the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>According to a report from <em><a href=\"https:\/\/africa.espn.com\/football\/story\/_\/id\/49060649\/omar-artan-somali-referee-fifa-world-cup-full-pay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">ESPN<\/a><\/em>, Artan will be fully compensated and receive his full salary from the governing body despite not being able to participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. It is said that the amount he would be paid has yet to be determined, as referees are usually paid after the tournament is over.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>Artan, who was named 2025 Confederation of African Football men\u2019s referee of the year, said in an interview that he was interviewed for 11 hours by border officials while claiming he had the right papers and visa. FIFA, meanwhile, said it is not involved in a host country&#8217;s immigration process and cannot tell a host nation who to admit into their country.<\/p>\n<p>Following the World Cup blow to Artan, UEFA have appointed the referee to officiate the 2026 UEFA Super Cup, which will take place on 12 August in Salzburg between <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/go\/uefa-champions-league\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">UEFA Champions League<\/a> winners <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/team\/paris-saint-germain\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Paris Saint-Germain<\/a> and UEFA Europa League winners Aston Villa.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>\u2018It was fate\u201d \u2013 Artan on being denied access into United States to officiate 2026 FIFA World Cup<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Days after being denied entry into the US, Artan returned to his country\u2019s capital, Mogadishu, where he received a hero\u2019s welcome. Artan was due to be the first referee from Somalia to officiate on football\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWhat happened has happened and it was fate. I am grateful for the support FIFA gave me,&#8221; Artan told reporters after arriving in Somalia&#8217;s capital, Mogadishu. \u201cSomalia is ours, whether things are good or bad. I want to tell our \u2060youth not to lose hope in our country,\u201d he said. &#8220;I am now in my country, and there is no other place I want to be.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In further defense of their reason for Artan\u2019s repatriation, a United States official said the referee was denied admission due to association with suspected members of terror organisations.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Ezekiel Olamide<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/football\/rumor-somali-referee-omar-artan-paid-fifa-world-cup-assignments-despite-refused-entry-usa-reports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Somali referee Omar Artan will receive his full pay for the 2026 World Cup from FIFA despite being denied entry into the United States, as per reports. Artan was one of the 52 referees appointed by FIFA to officiate in north America this summer, but upon his arrival at Miami International Airport, he was refused [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":248324,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[74316,147,1981],"class_list":{"0":"post-248323","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip","8":"tag-2026-fifa-world-cup","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-rumors"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}