Somali referee Omar Artan has been denied entry in US, where the FIFA World cup 2026 is scheduled to be held.

The referee was set to officiate at the tournament starting June 11.

Omar was denied entry just days before the tournament is set to start.

As per ESPN, Omar landed at Miami International Airport from Istanbul on Saturday, June 6.

However, after being denied entry, he will not participate in the tournament now.

The outlet reported citing U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that “During processing, the traveler underwent additional inspection, a routine part of CBP's inspection process when officers need to verify information or determine admissibility.”

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

On Tuesday, FIFA confirmed that the 34-year-old will be “unable to train and officiate at the FIFA World Cup 2026 after he was denied entry into the United States.”

Interestingly, Omar is one of 170 officials, including referees, assistant referees and video match officials who was denied entry.

The world cup starts n June 11 and the final will be played on July 19.