World Cup Security Measures: Somali Referee and Iranian Officials Barred
The man tasked with helping the United States stage a secure World Cup has defended the decision to bar a Somali referee and several Iranian team staff from entering the country, insisting the tournament will not become a back door for “bad actors”.
Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House Task Force for the World Cup, addressed the controversy at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council in Washington, outlining why some officials – but no players or coaches – have been stopped at the border.
“To this point we've had 35 teams that have come into the United States,” Giuliani said. “No players, no coaches have been denied. There have been some officials that have been denied, and for good reason.”
Somali referee blocked at Miami
At the centre of the storm is Omar Artan, the Somali match official who had been poised to make history at this World Cup.
Artan, named men’s referee of the year in 2025 by the Confederation of African Football, would have been the first Somali to take charge of a World Cup fixture. Instead, his tournament ended at Miami airport, where he was turned back by US authorities.
A US State Department official said the referee was “associated with suspected members of terrorist organisations,” a link that, under American law, made him “ineligible for admission to the United States”.
Somalia is one of several nations on a travel ban list introduced under President Donald Trump’s administration as part of a wider immigration crackdown, a policy that has now collided head‑on with football’s biggest stage.
Giuliani, son of former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, was pressed directly on Artan’s case. He framed the decision as part of a broader security calculus.
“We're striking that balance between making sure that any bad actors that… try to come into the country under the guise of the World Cup will not get access to the United States,” he said.
Artan has since returned home and publicly thanked FIFA for its support, but the episode has sharpened the debate over how far host nations can go in vetting officials at a supposedly global, inclusive event.
Iran pushed to the margins
The visa squeeze has not stopped at one referee.
Iran, whose three group-stage matches are all scheduled on American soil, have already felt the impact of fraught US–Iran relations and the ongoing military conflict between the two countries. The team has been forced to move its training base to Mexico, a significant logistical shift for a side preparing for a World Cup under intense political and sporting pressure.
The Iranian football federation has complained that its ticket allocation for supporters has been revoked and that some members of the team’s support staff have been denied visas, thinning out the travelling party and, crucially, its fan base.
Giuliani pushed back on suggestions that the core football operation was being undermined.
“All the Iranian coaching staff is coming in,” he said, before adding that “some Iranian officials” would not be allowed to enter “again for very good reason”.
He declined to spell out those reasons, hinting instead at concerns over misrepresented roles within delegations.
“I can't get into the particulars,” he said. “But there are some people that claim that they are coaches that may not be coaches.”
The message was clear: the United States will not simply take federation lists at face value.
Drawing the line with the IRGC
Giuliani also pointed to one red line that the administration considers non‑negotiable: any perceived connection to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
He said President Trump wants to ensure a “level playing field” for all 48 teams on the pitch, while simultaneously blocking access for anyone “directly working, let's say, with the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps)” from entering the country.
That stance underpins the visa decisions affecting Iranian officials and highlights how deeply geopolitics is running through this World Cup, from ticketing and travel to who is allowed to stand on the touchline or sit in the VIP areas.
Security on high alert
For now, the White House insists the security picture around the tournament remains stable.
Giuliani said there were currently “no credible threats” to the World Cup, but stressed that the US intelligence community has “tripled down” on its efforts and will keep monitoring “between now and whenever the final goal is scored on July 19.”
The football will decide who lifts the trophy. The next few weeks in the United States will also test how a host nation balances open doors for the world’s game with the hard edges of its security doctrine.
