IN the early hours on Tuesday or just as dusk fell on Monday, depending on which part of the globe you where in, a Somalian referee, Omar Artan, scheduled to be part of the World Cup’s officiating team, was scratched from it. A few days earlier, Artan had landed at the Miami International Airport. However, he was prevented from entering the country after a ‘routine’ check by the US Customs and Border Protection.
The Somalian, who was Africa’s ref of the year in 2025, was one of 52 selected by FIFA to run the tournament in 2026. On Monday, the world governing body said: “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. FIFA is not involved in host country immigration processes, including visa adjudications…”
It's true that FIFA doesn't have control over who the host governments lets in. But what it does have absolute control over is in taking tournaments away from designated host countries. In 2023, when Indonesia decided they wouldn't host Israel in the Under-20 World Cup, FIFA acted. They moved the whole thing to Argentina.
Will there be a similar fall-out if and when the US government decides to ban officials or players or delegates from, say, Eritrea, Laos, Niger, Republic of the Congo, The Gambia, Senegal, Zambia, Cuba or Burundi during the 2028 Olympics? Citizens of these nine countries face a full or a partial visa ban right now.
Last August, Gianni Infantino, head of FIFA, had said: “I think it’s important to clarify this. There is a lot of misconception out there. Everyone will be welcome in Canada, Mexico and the United States for the FIFA World Cup next year. We are working exactly for that.”This was supposed to be Artan’s big moment in the sun. The biggest six weeks of his life cut short even before it had begun.
This is not about Artan, who has been used as a pawn in a much larger issue pertaining to geopolitics, the Trump administration and the wider world in 2026. The 2026 edition isn’t just going to be the biggest iteration of the quadrennial bash. It’s going to be the biggest anything the world has ever seen. Sure, you can argue the Olympics is bigger but there’s no comparison. That’s a two-week event. The World Cup, after two weeks, will still be playing group games this time.
In terms of scale, the countries involved, and the countries hosting, this planet has not known or hosted anything like this outside of the two World Wars and the Cold War. Forty-eight countries. Six weeks. 16 cities across three nations. Ranging from Mexico City in the South to Vancouver in the North, this edition will touch an entire continent.
Which is why, when the three countries got together to bid for it, they billed it as United 2026. It was supposed to be the most inclusive one yet. And for a few seconds, the rest of the world believed it when they saw images from Curacao, Cape Verde and Uzbekistan. Countries who would normally have no chance of qualifying for the sport’s biggest prize.
Yet, everything about this World Cup feels garish. Forced. Like an unwelcome uncle who has just announced that he would be spending Diwali with you. The most inclusive World Cup yet also feels like it’s designed to keep out the some of the most passionate fans while ensuring a select few profit the most. A World Cup of, by and for corporates.
Political tangle and Iran
The prelude to the mega event was embroiled in a political mess. One of the host countries assassinated the head of the state of a participating nation early this year. Visa bans are in place preventing fans of several qualified nations to actually watch the World Cup. There have already been several reports of accredited officials – journalists, non-playing team staff and delegates and at least one player – who have faced questions or outright been prevented from entering. Iran's predicament is unique. One of the participating nations will have to leave the US and go to Mexico thrice after matches to ensure they don’t fall foul of a new ‘arrangement’? Iran would have no chance of debriefing in the dressing room. They would have no chance of recovery sessions. They would have no chance of treating this like a normal football event. As soon as their matches end in the US, they would have to dash to the airport and leave US soil.
While all 104 matches are scheduled to begin 0-0, the ones featuring Iran may as well begin 2-0 to the opposition because that’s how disadvantageous the whole process is to them.
The football World Cup is the one world event from a sporting perspective. The colour, noise and spectacle drowning out everything else in its wake. A six-week celebration. Not much about this World Cup can be celebrated. Not the exorbitant ticket rates, not the travel bans, not potential ICE raids outside venues, not the way Iran is about to be treated… nothing.
Vocal Mamdani
NYC Mayor, Zohran Mamdani, a lifelong football fan, has been very vocal about the way the Trump administration has gone about this entire process. On Monday, he didn’t mince his words. “Some of the decisions that we’ve seen been taken by the federal administration — be it the denial of visas for journalists from certain countries, or the rejection of a visa for a coach of a team, as well as single day visas for specific foreign national teams — this is anathema to what this tournament is supposed to be about,” he said. “If we cannot even allow the players, the teams, and the journalists covering those teams to come into this city and this country, then it begs a larger question about our commitment to the spirit of this tournament.”
The football World Cup, for many, is an unshakeable human institution because of the way one can measure their own life in four year blocks. Parents started allowing you to stay up for games. Trying (and failing) to replicate Beckham’s mohawk look. Going to university. First serious relationship. Job change. Marriage. Kids. Losing a parent. Retirement planning. Allowing your kid to stay up to watch games.
Each sentence representative of tumultuous change but it’s why the rhythms of the World Cup are very important. A six week escape where life can be paused. One festival every day for 45 days. An all you can eat buffet on an endless loop.
Just before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Argentina’s labour minister, Kelly Olmos, even briefly suggested that winning the World Cup would be more important that dealing with inflation. When they won the World Cup, a national euphoria temporarily enveloped all problems. It’s why there has always been a romance attached to the football World Cup. It genuinely impacts the life of so many people.
That very romance now is up for sale to the highest bidder.