Somalis in Norway are demanding that the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) take action on behalf of Omar Artan and are calling the entry ban discrimination, even though the World Cup referee was denied entry due to links to a terrorist group.
Zakaria Osman officiated a football match in Rogaland this week. He could not stop thinking about Omar Artan.
– I cannot hold back. I have to get it out, the referee from Stavanger told TV 2.
On Wednesday, he sent an open letter to NFF Rogaland and the central Norwegian Football Federation. The demand: Football President Lise Klaveness must demand answers from FIFA as to why the Somali World Cup referee was denied entry to the United States.
– This is discrimination, says Osman.
He describes a Somali community in Norway where anger is running high.
– The reactions are strong. People are no longer as enthusiastic about the World Cup. That joy is gone.
In Mogadishu, Artan was received as a hero, with flags and government officials in the arrivals hall. Klaveness responded quickly: the NFF is “in contact with FIFA” and will “get to the bottom of the matter”.
The entire mobilisation rests on one premise. Osman formulates it as follows:
– The policy of the United States since Trump came to power is that Somalia and other countries are not allowed to travel to the United States. An excuse we do not accept.
Somalia is on the list of twelve countries subject to a full entry ban. But the ban contains an explicit exemption for the World Cup: players, coaches, referees and support staff are allowed entry. Artan had a valid visa, issued the previous week. According to TV 2, he even travelled on a diplomatic passport.
The exemption therefore applied to him. He was stopped nevertheless.
That means the decision was not about his passport, but about the man himself. The border authorities, CBP, state that entry is assessed individually, based on “law enforcement, security, and immigration information available at the time of inspection”. Something in Artan’s own case led the Americans to override their own World Cup exemption – fully aware of the media storm that would follow.
What that was, an American official has hinted to ESPN: “associations with suspected members of terrorist organisations”. During the eleven-hour interview in Miami, Artan was, according to TV 2, asked specific questions about al-Shabaab.
Andrew Giuliani, who heads the White House World Cup task force, put it this way:
– There was a very good reason why he was denied entry.
Artan denies having done anything wrong and says he was never given any explanation.
– I think they have a problem with my country, he told The New York Times.
Football officials are following the same line. On Thursday, UEFA appointed Artan to referee the Super Cup final between PSG and Aston Villa in Salzburg on 12 August – a promotion delivered as a political statement before any of the questions have been answered. UEFA President Čeferin and CAF President Motsepe have praised the referee’s professional standard. FIFA President Infantino asked critics to “chill and relax”.
And in Norway, the NFF is now involved. Lise Klaveness is to demand answers from FIFA.