The head of the White House Task Force for the World Cup has defended the United States government’s decision to deny visas to Somali referee Omar Artan and some support staff affiliated with the Iranian national team, saying the refusals were made for legitimate security reasons.
Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the task force and son of former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, made the remarks on Tuesday at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council in Washington.
“No players, no coaches have been denied,” Giuliani said, noting that 35 teams had so far entered the country without incident. “There have been some officials that have been denied, and for good reason.
“Artan, who was named men’s referee of the year by the Confederation of African Football in 2025, was turned back at Miami airport. He would have been the first Somali to referee at a World Cup.
Somalia is among several countries on a travel ban list introduced by President Donald Trump’s administration as part of a broader immigration crackdown. On Iran, Giuliani said all coaching staff had been cleared to enter, but that certain individuals who identified themselves as coaches raised concerns.
“There are some people that claim that they are coaches that may not be coaches,” he said, adding that the administration was determined to prevent anyone with links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from accessing the country.
Iran, who will play all three group stage matches on American soil, were also forced to relocate their training base to Mexico due to ongoing military tensions with the United States.
The Iranian football federation separately disclosed that its supporter ticket allocation had been revoked. Giuliani said there were currently no credible threats to the tournament but that intelligence monitoring would continue through the final on July 19.
