Somali referee Artan barred from entering USA

According to BBC Africa, Artan's visa application was rejected by the US diplomatic mission in Mogadishu on Friday; accompanying applications for family members were also turned down. The rejection follows the State Department's update in March to a list of "enhanced screening" countries covering nine African nations. The Somali Football Federation sent a formal application to Washington stating that the referee's record and the diplomatic nature of the FIFA assignment offered sufficient guarantees.

Confederation president Patrice Motsepe said in a letter to the White House and FIFA that the decision against Artan "seriously tests football's principle of neutrality" and that CAF has set up a dedicated team to monitor the situation of players and referees from the nine countries. Nigerian Football Federation spokesperson Ademola Olajire told the BBC the practice amounts to "collective punishment." The US Embassy in Lagos said in a statement to the BBC that applications are subject to "individual security assessments."

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said from Zurich that the Artan case "must be assessed individually" and committed to maintaining the continental balance of the refereeing roster. FIFA's final referee list is expected to be confirmed next month; CAF said that if the situation is not resolved, the federations of the nine countries may request a change of status for their technical staff.