Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – A Somali referee was on Monday dropped from the World Cup after he was denied entry to the United States, reigniting concerns about how Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown could disrupt the tournament. Omar Artan was set to be the first match official from Somalia to referee at a World Cup finals, but he was turned back when he arrived at Miami International Airport on Saturday. The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said Artan was denied entry due to “vetting concerns.”
World football’s governing body FIFA said it was powerless to influence the decision, which it maintained was the sole preserve of tournament co-hosts the United States, and confirmed that Artan would play no part in the World Cup. “FIFA can confirm that match official Omar Abdulkadir Artan will be unable to train and officiate at the FIFA World Cup 2026 after he was denied entry into the United States,” a FIFA spokesperson told AFP. Somalia is one of several countries on a travel ban list introduced by US President Trump’s administration as part of a broader immigration crackdown.
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Iran’s team were spending their first full day at their base camp in Tijuana, Mexico after arriving in the eye of a diplomatic storm after the US — embroiled in a military conflict with the Islamic republic — refused to issue visas to 15 of their support staff. Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei complained on Sunday that the process of obtaining visas had delayed his team’s arrival by a week. He added: “Usually in these tournaments, before technical matters, ethical and human considerations must be respected — which I think for us it was not the case.”
With the big kickoff in Mexico City on Thursday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum vowed to ensure that threatened demonstrations by a teachers’ union over demands for salary raises do not disrupt the opening game between her country and South Africa. “We are going to guarantee…that the celebration of the World Cup is well-executed, in peace and tranquility,” Sheinbaum said.
On June 1, police dispersed protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets near the historic Zocalo square in Mexico City where authorities have erected a massive viewing screen for a World Cup fan zone. Streets surrounding the square are closed off with metal barricades, which Sheinbaum has said are meant to guard against “provocations.” As the days ticked down to the start of this expanded World Cup, the 48 teams settled into their base camps.
Five-time World Cup winners Brazil were among the squads getting familiar with their homes for a tournament that will stretch for five and a half weeks until the final on July 19. Brazil star Bruno Guimaraes insisted his team should get “the respect they deserve” as they prepare to kick off their bid to win a record-extending sixth World Cup. The Selecao won the last of their five titles in 2002 and have exited at the quarter-final stage four times in five editions since then.
“Nobody else has five stars on their chest. We have great players who play for top teams, like Vini (Vinicius Junior) and Raphinha. We need to give our players the respect they deserve,” Guimaraes told reporters in New Jersey. The team also said Neymar, Brazil’s leading international scorer who was only recalled to the national team after a two-year absence for the World Cup, was “recovering well” from a calf injury. The 34-year-old remains a doubt for Brazil’s first game against Morocco on Saturday.
France, beaten finalists in 2022 and tipped to make a deep run this year, rounded off their preparations in style as Michael Olise struck a hat-trick in a 3-1 defeat of Northern Ireland in Lille. Olise’s triple helped to dispel doubts that crept in after France lost their previous warm-up game to Ivory Coast. Didier Deschamps’ side will head to the US and their training base near Boston on Wednesday before taking on Senegal in their opener next Tuesday.
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