Somali football referee Omar Artan denied entry to US days out from World Cup

Somali referee Omar Artan has been denied entry to the United States despite being selected to officiate in the World Cup.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirmed a Somali national who was planning to referee in the World Cup had been denied entry after arriving at Miami International Airport from Istanbul on Saturday.

"During processing, the traveller underwent additional inspection, a routine part of CBP's inspection process when officers need to verify information or determine admissibility," CBP said in its statement.

"Following inspection, the traveller, a referee for the FIFA World Cup, was determined to be inadmissible due to vetting concerns and was denied entry."

Football's international governing body, FIFA, confirmed Artan would not officiate at the World Cup.

"FIFA is not involved in host country immigration processes, including visa adjudications, and has been informed by authorities that Mr Artan's status will not be changed at present," FIFA said in a statement.

"In line with previous FIFA events, a host government ultimately determines who receives a visa and who is admitted into their country."

Artan said ⁠he was in a positive mood and focused on the ‌next challenges of his refereeing career.

"I would like to thank ‌FIFA and CAF for all their support and I promise to keep my refereeing levels up as I concentrate on the future," he said in a statement.

"I want to thank the football family for their messages and wish my colleagues all the best success ‌during the World Cup and I look forward to joining them again in future competitions."

CBP noted that all travellers seeking entry to the US, including athletes, coaches and staff, were subject to CBP inspection and vetting.

"Admissibility determinations are made on a case-by-case basis using law enforcement, national security, and immigration information available at the time of inspection," the CBP statement said.

"CBP officers have the authority to question travellers, conduct inspections, and determine admissibility consistent with US law."

The decision came after Iran accused the US of denying visas to "integral" members of its national football team's backroom staff, hours after Washington confirmed Iranian players had been given permission to travel to the upcoming World Cup.

US officials said visas had been issued to all players and "necessary support staff" on Friday, 10 days before Iran's opening fixture in Los Angeles on June 15.

They also said Iran would not be allowed to "abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the United States under false pretences".

Iran's embassy in Türkiye accused the US of "politically biased interference in sport" by denying visas to a "large portion of the managerial and executive staff" and "technical advisers".

Iranian state-linked media said 15 administration officials, including the head of the football federation, his deputy, and a media director, were among those who were denied entry to the US.

Last week, a friendly between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Chile in Spain was cancelled after authorities raised health concerns over the Ebola outbreak in the African nation, with questions remaining over how many players, staff and fans from impacted countries would be allowed into the US.

Earlier in the week, Swiss striker Breel Embolo received a visa after a two-day delay in the authorisation of his travel to the US, with the extra checks related to previous court cases.

ABC Sport will be live blogging every moment of the FIFA World Cup. Follow live at abc.net.au/news/sport.

AP