The Somali Football Federation (SFF) has learned with deep disappointment of the circumstances that prevented Somali international referee Mr. Omar Abdulkadir Artan from continuing his journey to the United States to participate in the FIFA World Cup 2026.<\/p>\n
Mr. Omar Artan\u2019s appointment among the match officials selected for the FIFA World Cup represented a historic milestone for Somalia, as he was set to become the first Somali referee to officiate at a FIFA World Cup. His selection was the result of years of dedication, professionalism, integrity, and outstanding performances at the highest levels of international football.<\/p>\n
This achievement followed an exceptional year in which Mr. Omar Artan was recognized as the CAF African Referee of the Year 2025, confirming his status as one of the continent\u2019s most respected and accomplished match officials.<\/p>\n
At this stage, the Somali Football Federation has not received any official information detailing the exact reasons that led to this situation. Therefore, we believe it would be inappropriate to speculate or draw conclusions until all relevant facts have been clearly established.<\/p>\n
We take note of FIFA\u2019s communication on this matter and remain in contact with the relevant authorities and stakeholders to seek further clarification and a better understanding of the circumstances surrounding this case.<\/p>\n
The Somali Football Federation expresses its full support and solidarity with Mr. Omar Artan. His remarkable journey and achievements remain a source of immense pride for Somalia, the CECAFA region, African football, and countless young people who see in him an example of excellence, perseverance, and success.<\/p>\n
We also extend our sincere appreciation to the many football associations, confederations, referees, administrators, players, and supporters around the world who have expressed their solidarity and support.<\/p>\n
The Somali Football Federation remains firmly committed to the universal values of football, including respect, inclusion, equal opportunity, fairness, and unity among peoples and nations.<\/p>\n
We sincerely hope that this matter will be clarified promptly and transparently in the spirit of cooperation and the values that unite the global football family.<\/p>\n
Mogadishu, 9 June 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Somali Football Federation The Somali Football Federation (SFF) has learned with deep disappointment of the circumstances that prevented Somali international referee Mr. Omar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4877,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/footballsomalia.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/footballsomalia.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/footballsomalia.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/footballsomalia.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/footballsomalia.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4901"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/footballsomalia.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4903,"href":"https:\/\/footballsomalia.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4901\/revisions\/4903"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/footballsomalia.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/footballsomalia.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/footballsomalia.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/footballsomalia.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nExecutive Committee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"