USA Defends World Cup Visa Decisions Amid Tightened Security Screening

The head of the White House Task Force for the World Cup, Andrew Giuliani, has defended the decision to deny entry to a Somali referee and several members of Iran’s support staff, insisting the measures were necessary to protect the integrity and security of the tournament.

Speaking at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council in Washington on Tuesday, Giuliani said 35 teams had already entered the United States without any players or coaches being refused visas.

“To this point, we’ve had 35 teams that have come into the United States,” Giuliani said.

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

He added: “We’re striking that balance between making sure that any bad actors that…try to come into the country under the guise of the World Cup will not get access to the United States.”

Naija News reports that Giuliani was responding to questions about the refusal of entry to Somali referee Omar Artan, who was turned back at Miami airport.

Artan, named the Confederation of African Football’s men’s referee of the year in 2025, was set to become the first Somali official to referee at a World Cup.

“While I can’t go into the details, what I can tell you, high level, is it was for a very good reason,” Giuliani said.

The decision comes as Somalia remains on a travel ban list introduced by the administration of Donald Trump as part of a broader immigration crackdown.

The issue has also affected Iran’s preparations for the tournament. Iran, which will play all three of their group-stage matches in the United States, recently shifted their training base to Mexico amid the continuing military tensions between Washington and Tehran.

The Iranian Football Federation said on Tuesday that its allocation of supporter tickets had been withdrawn and that some members of the team’s support staff had been denied visas.

Giuliani maintained that Iran’s coaching staff would be allowed entry.

“All the Iranian coaching staff are coming in,” he said, adding that there are “some Iranian officials that are not coming in, again for a very good reason.”

He said he “can’t get into the particulars” but noted that “there are some people that claim that they are coaches that may not be coaches.”

Giuliani added that Trump wanted to ensure a “level playing field” for every nation competing at the World Cup while preventing individuals linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from entering the country.

Despite the visa controversies, Giuliani said there were currently “no credible threats” to the tournament. He added that the intelligence community had “tripled down” on security efforts and would continue monitoring developments through to the World Cup final on July 19.