Overview
- Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan was denied entry at Miami and flown back to Istanbul after U.S. border officials cited problems with a background verification, and FIFA said it cannot override host-country immigration decisions.
- Iran moved its training base from Tucson to Mexico weeks before the tournament because of visa and security constraints, and Iran has complained that its federations’ ticket allocation for fans was withdrawn without clear explanation.
- Several delegations reported intensive arrival procedures that included tarmac searches, removal of shoes, emptied bags and dog searches, with Senegal and Uzbekistan among those publicly alleging excessive or discriminatory treatment.
- Iraqi forward Aymen Hussein said he was detained and interrogated for hours in Chicago after being mistaken for someone else, and White House World Cup officials have defended narrow denials of entry as security measures.
- Under U.S. law the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection control visas and admissions, not FIFA, and the enforcement approach could raise continued diplomatic friction, restrict fan access, and complicate tournament logistics.