Somali referee Omar Artan returned to Mogadishu to a welcome from supporters and officials after being denied entry to the United States for the FIFA World Cup and then cut from the tournament by FIFA, according to The Associated Press.
Omar Artan Returns To Mogadishu
AP reported that Artan arrived back in Somalia's capital on Wednesday, June 10, after the World Cup assignment that would have made history for his country ended before he could work at the tournament.
The visible AP material says Artan was denied entry after arriving in Miami. It does not give a detailed legal explanation for the decision, so the cleanest reading is also the safest one: the World Cup lost one of its officials after an entry-access problem became a tournament issue.
AP captions showed Artan being welcomed by supporters in Mogadishu. For Somalia, that reception turned an administrative setback into something closer to a public show of backing for a referee who had reached the sport's biggest stage.
FIFA Cuts Referee From World Cup Tournament
FIFA subsequently removed Artan from the World Cup tournament, AP reported. The decision meant he would not be part of the officiating group once the expanded event began in North America.
The timing made the story more visible. The World Cup was opening with attention already on travel, visas, ticketing and logistics across host countries, and Artan's case put officiating access into that same conversation.
Artan's credentials as a match official were not a side note. AP captions identified him working the CAF Champions League final between AS FAR Rabat and Mamelodi Sundowns in Rabat, Morocco, on May 24, 2026.
World Cup Officiating Story Extends Beyond The Field
The story is not about a score, a tactical decision or a missed call. It is about how the machinery around a World Cup can affect who actually gets to participate.
For Artan, the episode ended with a return home instead of a World Cup debut. For Somalia, it still produced a moment of recognition, even if it came in a form nobody would have chosen at the start.
That is why the story sits inside World Cup coverage rather than outside it. At a tournament this large, the off-field systems matter too, and this one reached a referee before he reached the pitch.