A Trump administration official told Fox News that a FIFA World Cup referee from Somalia was denied entry into the United States by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) after being flagged for “derogatory information,” including “association with suspected members of terror organizations.” This made the referee “inadmissible for entry into the U.S.,” Fox News congressional correspondent Bill Melugin said. “This individual was seeking admission to the United States. Upon further inspection by CBP, derogatory information, including association with suspected members of terror organizations, was discovered making the traveler ineligible for admission to the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA),” the Trump administration official said in a statement. “The traveler was refused admission and given immigration forms that provide the section of law used to complete an expedited removal under 8235 of the INA. President Trump’s administration will not allow any security threat to enter our country – full stop,” the official added. BREAKING: The Somali FIFA World Cup referee who was denied entry into the U.S. by CBP was flagged with “derogatory” information, including “association with suspected members of terror organizations”, making him inadmissible for entry into the U.S., a Trump admin official tells… — Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) June 10, 2026 More from The New York Times: The referee, Omar Artan, was one of 52 referees selected for this summer’s FIFA World Cup in North America. He is one of just seven African referees to be chosen for the tournament, and was named referee of the year in 2025 by the Confederation for African Football, which governs soccer in Africa. Mr. Artan flew to Miami International Airport on Saturday, five days before the first game of the tournament on Thursday, but was prevented from entering the country, according to a statement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. “The traveler underwent additional inspection, a routine part of C.B.P.’s inspection process when officers need to verify information or determine admissibility,” the statement said. “Following inspection, the traveler, a referee for the FIFA World Cup, was determined to be inadmissible due to vetting concerns and was denied entry,” it said, adding that decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. FIFA confirmed in a statement that Mr. Artan had been denied entry, and said he would not be able to 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.” “Artan was set to make history for his country as the first referee from Somalia to officiate at a World Cup,” The Washington Post noted. Artan was scheduled to meet with other World Cup referees at their training base in Miami. Omar Artan was set to make history for his country as the first referee from Somalia to officiate at a World Cup, but he was denied entry to the U.S. after arriving in Miami and cut from the tournament by FIFA. https://t.co/W5pA8RKUdy — The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 9, 2026   The Associated Press shared further: Somalia is one of nearly 40 countries subjected to new travel restrictions under the Trump administration’s strict crackdown on immigration. That raised concerns that fans, players and officials from those countries — most of which are African — might be caught up in the crackdown and denied entry for the World Cup despite having valid visas. Artan told The New York Times he was interviewed at Miami airport for 11 hours by border officials, who asked him why he’d traveled to the U.S. and questioned him about Somali politics and the al-Shabab militant group that is fighting an insurgency against the government there. He showed them FIFA documentation and photos from his refereeing career, he said. After the questioning, he was put in a holding cell and sent back on a plane to Istanbul, Turkey, from where he’d taken his connecting flight to the U.S. “I think that they have a problem with my country,” Artan told The New York Times, adding he had the correct documents and visa. He said he wasn’t told why he was refused entry, according to the Times. The Somalia Youth and Sports Ministry said on Tuesday that its embassy in the U.S. was trying to resolve the problem to allow Artan to referee at the World Cup, which opens on Thursday. The refusal to allow him into the U.S. might be related to the larger travel restrictions on Somalia “rather than any specific allegation against him,” Isse Aden Abshir, a senior adviser at the Somalia sports ministry, told The Associated Press.