B.C. premier says FIFA referee banned from U.S. would be welcomed in Vancouver
Talk about Canadian hospitality.
Somalian soccer referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan made international headlines this week when it was announced that he was banned from the U.S. before the FIFA World Cup. He was slated to be Somalia’s first-ever FIFA World Cup referee.
A member of Donald Trump’s administration explained to the BBC that the primary reason he was denied entry to the United States was because of a suspected link to a terror organization.
“This individual was seeking admission to the United States,” a representative from Trump’s administration told the BBC. “Upon further inspection by CBP [Custom and Border Protection], derogatory information, including association with suspected members of terror organisations, was discovered, making the traveller ineligible for admission to the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).”
Artan told The New York Times that border officials questioned himĀ about his links to the Somali militant group, Al Shabab. He told them he knew nothing about the group. Artan was detained for 11 hours in Miami before being ushered out of the United States on a flight to Istanbul, Turkey.
Back in June 2025, Trump fully restricted any Somalian nationals from entering the United States.
“With Somalia, which is barely a country, you know, they have no anything,” Trump said later in 2025.
“They just run around killing each other. There’s no structure.”
After the news about Artan’s denied entry to the U.S. made headlines, B.C. Premier David Eby stepped in to offer a solution.
Mr. Artan would be welcomed and celebrated in British Columbia for what heās overcome and where he is today. Letās have him referee in Vancouver. https://t.co/ynXRy0jAqY
— David Eby (@Dave_Eby) June 9, 2026
“Mr. Artan would be welcomed and celebrated in British Columbia for what he’s overcome and where he is today,” Eby’s post on X said. “Let’s have him referee in Vancouver.”
While the gesture seemed genuine, there were a couple of issues with turning this into a reality.
First, a provincial premier has no jurisdiction over deciding who is allowed to enter Canada.
Outside of that, however, Artan’s shot at reffing World Cup games in Canada or Mexico isn’t possible based on FIFA’s process. All match officials were required to travel to Miami for mandatory training and preparation. Most matches don’t have assigned referees yet, and typically those are announced two to three days before their match.
Artan returned to Somalia on Wednesday, where he spoke about seeing his World Cup dreams dashed.