White House FIFA World Cup chief defends visa ban on Somali referees, Iranians

The head of the White House Task Force for the World Cup on Tuesday defended the decision not to grant visas to a Somali referee and some support staff for the Iranian team.

“So far, 35 teams have come to the United States,” Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the task force, said at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council in Washington.

“No players and no coaches have been turned away,” Giuliani said. “There have been some officials who have been turned away, and for good reason.”

«We are looking for a balance between ensuring that bad players who… try to enter the country under the guise of the World Cup are not allowed into the United States,» he added.

Giuliani, the son of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, was asked specifically about the decision to ban Somali referee Omar Artan from entering the country.

Artan, who was named men’s referee of the year by the Confederation of African Football in 2025, is said to have been the first Somali to referee a World Cup.

“While I can’t go into the details, I can tell you at a high level that this was for a very good reason,” Giuliani said of Artan, who was turned back at the Miami airport.

Somalia is one of several countries on a travel ban list introduced by President Donald Trump’s administration as part of a broader immigration crackdown.

Iran, which will play its three group matches on US soil, was forced to move its training base to Mexico due to the ongoing military conflict with the United States.

Iran’s football federation said on Tuesday that the allocation of tickets for supporters had been withdrawn and some team support staff had been denied visas.

Giuliani said that “the entire Iranian coaching staff is coming in,” but there are “a number of Iranian officials who are not coming in – again for a very good reason.”

He said he “can’t get into the specifics,” but “there are people claiming to be coaches who may not be coaches.”

Giuliani said Trump wants to ensure there is a “level playing field” for all teams participating in the World Cup “while also ensuring that people who work directly, for example with the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guards) do not have access to the United States of America.”

The White House envoy also said there are currently “no credible threats” to the tournament, but that the intelligence community has “tripled down” and will continue to monitor the situation “between now and when the final goal is scored on July 19.”

Published on June 10, 2026