Yep, we are in agreement: DHS found something to keep Artan out, like it did with all those UEFA fans and their revoked express visas.
We’re going in circles, but the standard for rejecting a referee—who is an actual onfield participant—should be exponentially higher for rejecting ordinary fans. In my view, if you agree to host a tournament like this, you should only be denying entry to people you believe will pose an actual security threat during their few weeks on US soil. Nothing I’ve heard so far suggests they had anything close to that. It also seems extraordinarily unlikely that he would have been denied under any previous administration. So we can hide behind the bureaucratic speak all we want, but I have a lot of trouble believing that anything negative would have happened to this country had they let this guy come referee for FIFA
So it's about your view and what should be the reality. Also, none of us has any idea whatsoever what sort of security threat he may or may not have posed. I really wanted to tap out, but given the non-soccer professional world I have resided in, I know that the fact a rank-and-file Democratic congressman is willingly going on the record to say CBP made the correct call should set off alarm bells for anyone who follows this stuff closely. Given the basic public facts, this is the easiest case to make political hay out of (as we're seeing); it's a cudgel, served up on a platter, for partisan politics. For an in-the-know partisan of the opposite team to pull a "well, actually..." and do so publicly is so rare in today's environment that it should mean something to those of us who are not privvy to all the details and facts. Finally, on the diplomatic passport component. It feels really odd that you're dismissing that. The BBC first reported that a Somali government official stated he was traveling on one. It's a reported fact. Sure, it might not be the reason, given the apparent interrogation and results of an investigation. But it sure as hell seems relevant to the overall case if we have any interest in trying to get the full story. You're not the least bit interested in why a referee pursued a diplomatic passport from the Somali government? Just spit-balling here, but perhaps he had a feeling he wouldn't pass vetting and thought the diplomatic passport would be the golden ticket around that?
The current American government has absolutely gone out of their way to remove any trace of black involvement in our history, from removing plaques in European military cemeteries, removing the names of thousands of black Americans involved in arts, sciences, military history, their accomplishments on plaques in Arlington, re-installing confederate statues and confederate general's names to army bases, I could go on but for the sake of brevity, yet you (and I assume others) will twist yourselves into rhetorical knots to keep from admitting that racism played a role in denying Artan entry onto American soil. He is all over the news, here and in other countries and nobody at all is talking about his documents. Artan is sui generis. I will say for the record that the principal reason for denying Artan's entry was/is racism. As Charlie Kirk used to say, "Prove me wrong".
As someone who likely agrees with you on the basic merits of some of the most important issues of the day, I would suggest you are approaching these topics in an unhealthy manner and I'm sorry for you. If I were being less charitable, I'd have much harsher words for you implying that I want to defend or excuse racism. Either way, get a grip.
This is what it boils down to for me. Could there have been something in Artan’s dossier that would be grounds for denying a regular Somali, yes. I’d even say that’s quite likely. But the bar should be extraordinarily high to deny someone who is a part of the World Cup, as an official member of FIFA’s delegation (not just a regular fan). Every possible accommodation, such as increased police presence and monitoring, should be exhausted before they decide to turn a VIP back altogether. We probably won’t ever know the truth, but FIFA and the IOC deserve to know the details if the US wants to host their events in the future. And I’d hope that if there wasn’t a very good reason for denying Artan, they pull those events from the US. FIFA’s public stance of “it’s up to the host country who they decide to let in, there’s nothing we can do.” is nowhere near good enough. It sets a very dangerous precedent where future host nations can deny participants, for any reason, and expect minimal pushback. To have a World Cup, or an Olympics, you need to be able to guarantee that all participants can be there. Without that guarantee, these event can’t exist in their usual form.
Haven't seen this World Cup visa denial story circulating yet. Moroccan player Zakaria El Ouahdi, who plays in Belgium's top division, was initially denied a US visa on the basis that his father has what authorities deemed a suspicious beard pic.twitter.com/yEuGZI2lrE— Nate Bear (@NateB_Panic) June 10, 2026 Yep, definitely no reason to have a lot of skepticism about how these decisions are being made
If I'm in charge of FIFA refs, I too want them to put me up in Miami for the duration of the tournament. That said, it really feels like DFW (or maybe KC, though the air travel links aren't quite as good) would make more sense. But if it was in Dallas, the special ref training kit color would be the weird silver green of the Cowboys' pants... Which is actually kinda selling me on it.
I'm in support of checking out those attempting to enter our borders and rejecting those who are suspicious. Imagine if we didn't do that. Oh wait, we don't have to imagine: The results were obvious on Sept 11 2001 . I'm sure there are plenty of people in the world who would love for something like that to happen at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. So yes, please keep a watchful eye out and reject entry to those who are not vetted.
The idea that a world class soccer referee has been setting up his whole career just to carry out the next 9/11 (by himself? With his AR?) is just ludicrous
Hey everyone, I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to Mass. Ref, and anyone else that I might have offended with my admittedly strident posts. I care very deeply about America, and I let my concern turn venomous. FOR THE RECORD; I do not believe that the people on this board are a bunch of racists. I just care a lot, maybe too much. I've learned a lot here over the years and I don't want to poison the well so to speak. Richard M.
Artan's border entry denial was not the first, and it won't be the last step taken to help ensure the security of the World Cup. There will be others denied entry into the US, and into the stadiums. Some will be 100% a security risk. Others will be caught up in strict security measures that catch them doing innocent but suspicious things. They are victims of terrorism. All of us who have to go through metal detectors, empty pockets, take off shoes, pour out water bottles -- all victims because of the terrorists. He's a victim of trying to ensure security at this event. Those in charge of security SHOULD be suspicious of everyone. From food vendors, to spectators, players, coaches, referees, even Gianni Infantino should go through the exact same security checks and eyed with suspicion. With thousands of thousands of people attending the World Cup, there are bound to be several who don't dot all the "i" and cross all the "t" -- with passports, visas, actions at checkpoints, forgetting that small pocket knife in your pocket, looking too nervous. They can be denied access. They should be denied access.
Thanks. And I am sorry if my responses come off too harsh. I’m just particularly passionate about trying to approach issues like these dispassionately when there obviously is a lot of bad stuff going on. Not everything is a duck, to reuse the phrase from a few pages up. But, yes, there are a lot of very bad ducks out there right now.
I believe FIFA is 'headquartered' or at least, has a permanent office in Miami, so that is why Miami makes sense.
Artan is so much of a security threat that….UEFA just invited him to Austria to officiate the Super Cup. This is embarrassing
Which they did to prove a political point and embarrass the U.S. I mean, there's having an opinion but then there's being deliberately naive. UEFA has the same political perspective that you do on this and they acted to make a point. Great public relations move by them. But if you think UEFA just vetted Artan the way CBP did or that the EU would have the exact same restrictions that the US has... I don't know what to tell you. The Premier of British Columbia also invited Artan to be a fourth on matches in Vancouver. Despite the fact that he has no control over immigration into Canada nor say over FIFA assignments in his home province. People are going to make political hay over this; UEFA is in a unique position of being able to do it with real action. Good for them.
The point is that they realized what should be obvious to everyone, which is that there is no need to exhaustively vet a top international referee because the chances they will commit a terrorist attack while in the country for the purpose of officiating games is essentially zero. That’s what the calculation should have been for our country too.
You have jumped to a conclusion that may not be wholly correct. The threshold seems to be much lower than ones being a risk to commit an attack. Could well also be he had had conversations or had been asked about or to report back on the process of getting in, what security was like, etc. Guy may have just been identified by others to be a useful source of information without his own knowledge of who the people asking for it were or what they may have planned to do with it once they had it. Remember the scene in "Pearl harbor" where the Hawaiian resident of Japanese descent received a phone call asking about the weather? Innocuous on the surface.