The Trump administration is defending its choice to bar Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan from coming into the US, simply days earlier than the FIFA World Cup, over alleged hyperlinks to a terrorist group. A FIFA spokesperson stated in a press release that the World Cup organizer “is not involved in host country immigration processes.” Artan, who was named Africa’s prime male referee in 2025, would have been the primary Somali to referee on the event. NCS’s Larry Madowo stories.