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World Cup Ref Banned From the US, Iran's Team Forced to Stay in Mexico
Description
The United States spent years lobbying to co-host the 2026 World Cup. Days before kickoff, it’s already turning the world away at the door.
Omar Artan, one of Africa’s top referees and set to become the first Somali to officiate a World Cup match, was denied entry to the US despite holding a valid visa. He flew to Miami and was turned away by Customs, which cited “vetting concerns.” Somalia is on the Trump administration’s travel ban list, and the president has previously disparaged Somali immigrants. FIFA said it would not intervene, noting the host nation controls entry.
Iran, which qualified for the tournament and is scheduled to play all three of its group-stage games in the United States, has had visas delayed and denied for members of its delegation. As a result, the team is basing in Tijuana, Mexico, and traveling in for matches. When the players arrived, they wore gold pins reading “168,” the number of people, most of them children, killed when a missile struck an elementary school in Minab, in southern Iran, in February. No government has formally accepted responsibility; the UN condemned the strike and the Pentagon has said it is investigating.
The World Cup was supposed to showcase the host nation. This one is showing the world a country deciding, at the airport, who counts.
Sources:
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49002985/somali-referee-world-cup-denied-entry-united-states
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