I am not disappointed and I will referee in the 2030 World Cup

Somali referee Omar Arten, after he was banned from entering the United States to officiate matches in the FIFA World Cup finals, returned to Mogadishu to a huge reception and pledged to participate in the next tournament in 2030.
“I will be present at the next World Cup, and I will continue to raise the name of Somalia high, despite what happened to me, I am not disappointed,” Arten told more than a hundred fans and journalists at Mogadishu’s main airport. Arten had been banned from entering the United States after arriving at Miami Airport last Saturday, and the US State Department justified the ban by saying: “The referee is “linked to suspected members of terrorist organizations,” which makes him “ineligible to enter the United States.”
The refusal of Artan to enter American territory and his deprivation of becoming the first Somali referee to officiate matches in the World Cup finals sparked widespread anger in his country.
In 2025, Arten was chosen as referee of the year in the men’s category by the African Union (CAF).