- FIFA World Cup participants, notably a Somali referee, have been denied entry to the U.S.
- Efforts are underway to prevent similar immigration issues at LA’s 2028 Summer Games
- A resolution is anticipated ahead of Utah’s 2034 Winter Games
The International Olympic Committee remains confident that the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles won’t run into the same issues with the U.S. government experienced by some participants in this year’s FIFA World Cup.
A Somali referee, who would have been the first from his country to officiate at a World Cup, was turned away at the U.S. border just days before Thursday’s start to the global soccer tournament taking place in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The referee, Omar Abdulkadir Artan, told The New York Times he had the proper paperwork but was denied entry after more than 11 hours of interviews that were then followed by several more hours of detention.
An unnamed U.S. official told The Associated Press that Artan, an internationally recognized referee who received a hero’s welcome when he returned to Somalia, was refused entry due to an alleged “association with suspected members of terror organizations.”
There have also been reports of other World Cup participants subjected to lengthy questioning before being allowed into the U.S., while many foreign journalists and fans have been unable to obtain the needed paperwork to travel here.
How FIFA and the IOC are reacting to World Cup immigration issues
Gianni Infantino, the president of soccer’s international federation, FIFA, called what happened to Artan “unfortunate” Wednesday but suggested it would be good “to just chill, relax” because “sometimes to immediately start screaming and shouting has the opposite effect.”
Infantino later clarified, according to The Athletic, that he did not “mean chill and do nothing. Trust us, we are working behind the scenes. We always try to make the situation as positive as possible and find solutions. Sometimes we manage, others not.”
IOC President Kirsty Coventry is also counting on work being done out of the public eye to avoid any similar situations at the next Olympic Games, being held in Los Angeles in the summer of 2028.
“I am confident that in two years, we will be able to overcome a number of the challenges that the World Cup are facing right now. But I think that also takes collaboration and learning,” Coventry said Wednesday during an IOC virtual news conference.
The White House task force on the Los Angeles Games created and led by U.S. President Donald Trump “is learning and we can only continue to work very closely” with organizers and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, she said.
The IOC, Coventry said, updates them on “our feedback that we are receiving from stakeholders. Then it’s our job to continue to monitor that, to advocate for that and for athletes and their entourage, to be able to ensure that they are then in the LA 2028 Games.”
The leader of the IOC for nearly a year may get a firsthand look at what’s happening during the World Cup. Coventry, elected last year as the first woman and first African IOC president, said she hopes to attend some World Cup matches, but as of Wednesday, nothing was scheduled.
Will there be problems entering the U.S. for the Olympics?
Dealing with the impacts of U.S. immigration policies was discussed during the Switzerland-based organization’s recent coordination commission meeting with LA28 organizers in California, IOC Sports Director Pierre Ducrey told reporters.
“There are dedicated people already inside the organizing committee working just on this topic. They have an office in Washington. There is a strong relationship they are building with the authorities, with the right agencies that will have to be involved,” Ducrey said.
It’s also about educating the Trump administration about who’s expected to travel to the U.S. for the Olympics, he said, “explaining who is going to be coming, the profile of the people, the role they have to play.”
Ducrey said LA28 organizers were “very positive in terms of the relationship they have now established with the government.” U.S. Olympic officials have long lobbied to mitigate the effects of Trump’s travel bans and other immigration restrictions.
Utah will hold the next Olympics in the United States after LA’s, the 2034 Winter Games.
Fraser Bullock, president and executive chair of the Organizing Committee for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, anticipates the matter will be resolved before the state hosts for what will be a second time.
“Fortunately, our Games are far in the future,” Bullock said, expressing gratitude to LA organizers as well as the USOPC and the IOC “for working these issues out long before our Games.”
