World Cup 2026: Referee case Has FIFA lost control of its tournament?

Hours before the start of the 2026 World Cup, an unexpected incident has created a major stir over the tournament: the US's denial of entry to Africa's top referee, Omar Artan.

Orton, a citizen of Somalia, flew to Miami along with 51 other referees to make the final arrangements. But he was at one point put back on the plane after facing a barrage of questions for 11 hours at the hands of immigration officials. "I had all the right papers, the right visa," Orton told The New York Times; But he was kept in detention and later transferred to the country.

Various Cuba-based and international rights organizations have expressed concern over the incident. Piara Power, executive director of the anti-discrimination movement Fare, said: "Ideological and discriminatory visa policy fears from government circles seem to be coming to fruition. We will never see an official FIFA referee turned away when he tries to reach the final preparations." (Authority interprets their words)

This is not limited to individual referees, but calls into question the priority of government and host country immigration policies in the management of the tournament. There are fears about how fans and activists will be affected by the prospect of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) being on the grounds of the stadium.

2025 will be a year to remember for Orton. In 2025 he officiated the second leg of the Africa Champions League final and the third place playoff at the U-20 World Cup in Chile. Group matches were also scheduled for the Africa Nations Cup at the end of the same year. His selection for the World Cup in March 2026 was considered one of the highest accolades of his career. "It's a goal for every referee to be in the World Cup," Orton said in an interview with BBC Somali. But now, instead of ruling the World Cup, he has to go back to Mogadishu.

Andrew Giuliani, White House task force leader on the incident, said he supported the decision by the Customs and Border Patrol: "I won't go into detail about the specifics of that denial, but I can say it was the right decision." According to him, this is a sign of abstract merit that special treatment should not be given to anyone.

The big question is: how come a FIFA-designated official can't manage to get a country into its stadiums on time? In the last two World Cups (Russia, Qatar) the host countries have provided special entry facilities for fans — like FanID in Russia, Haya card in Qatar. But immigration rules and barriers here in America have prevented fans from traveling, according to multiple reports.

There is evidence that fans and staff from other countries' teams are also affected by visa policies here. Iran announced cancellation of their group stage ticket allocations in a separate decision; Some Jattl fans also claim that they are failing to make it to America. Sources also suggest that the US government has implemented a full entry ban on 12 countries (including Somalia) by June 2025.

Fare and other confederations are questioning FIFA for not warning them of the development. "Never have we seen so many coaches, team operations, fans and senior admins of national associations subjected to interrogation and denial," Piara Power said. Finally, what this development makes clear is the question of who is running this World Cup — FIFA, or the host country's government with its Corona-inspired immigration policies?

It remains to be seen how this incident, which Omar Artan shouted before the start of the World Cup, will stand in the midst of the controversies seen in the last few developments of the World Cup. Fans are hoping for a better start if the focus is on football at the tournament level; But the worry that these bugs could cripple the game due to external mechanisms has become a space.