Omar Artan: From war-scarred Somalia to Africa's best referee
Somali referee Omar Artan, who was expected to officiate at matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup but was denied entry to US, addresses fans at the Mogadishu stadium in Somalia on June 10, 2026.
There's a saying that goes, ‘It's rigged in your favour’. If anyone seemed destined to believe this, it was 34-year-old Omar Artan, who was boarding a connecting flight from Istanbul, Türkiye to the United States for the FIFA World Cup in June.
This may well have been the Somali referee's feeling before he landed at Miami International Airport. In the days leading up to his trip to join 51 other referees at a training camp in Florida, there was always a lingering fear that something could go wrong.
