Somali Referee Denied Entry to U.S for World Cup to Officiate CECAFA Kagame Cup Final

Somali referee who was denied entry into the U.S. and blocked from officiating at the recently concluded FIFA World Cup, Omar Abdulkadir Artan, has been appointed to officiate the 2026 CECAFA Kagame Cup final.

The Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) has announced that the Artan who was crowned as the African Referee of the Year 2025 will take charge of the final on August 7 at Amahoro Stadium in Kigali.

Artan will be assisted by Djibouti's Liban Abdulrazack and Kenya's Eliezer Stephen Yiembe, where the region's premier club competition will crown its new champions.

The appointment comes just days after UEFA selected the same officiating trio for the UEFA Super Cup, scheduled for August 12 in Salzburg, Austria.

Artan, 34, attracted global attention earlier this year after being denied entry into the United States to officiate at the 2026 FIFA World Cup despite holding a diplomatic passport issued by the Somali government to facilitate his international travel following visa challenges.

He was denied entry to the U.S. at Miami International Airport over unspecified “vetting concerns,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement, without giving details of the concerns. FIFA subsequently cut him from the tournament’s referee list.

Omar Artan was going to be the first referee from Somalia to officiate at a World Cup after making FIFA's final list for the tournament

Meanwhile, hosts Rayon Sports, Sudan's Al Hilal SC, Kenya's Gor Mahia and South Sudan's Jamus FC have booked their places in the CECAFA Kagame Cup semi-finals, which will be played on August 4 and 5 at Kigali Pelé Stadium.