Canada, Terrorist Group, Welcome Alleged Terror-Tied FIFA Referee

Progressive politicians in Canada and the Islamic terrorist group Al-Shabaab have condemned the United States for denying entry to Omar Artan, a Somali-born FIFA World Cup 2026 referee with alleged ties to the terrorist group.

“Denying entry to Omar Artan, who has earned his place on the world stage through hard work and perseverance, is not right,” Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said in a statement. “Toronto believes in fairness, inclusion, and giving talent the opportunity to shine. He would be welcome to referee here in our city. I will be writing to FIFA to let them know he is welcome to referee here.”

Similarly, British Columbia Premier David Eby wrote on X that “Mr. Artan would be welcomed and celebrated in British Columbia for what he’s overcome and where he is today. Let’s have him referee in Vancouver.”

While the Department of Homeland Security has not stated the extent of Artan’s ties to the terrorist group, a spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection told Newsweek that “during processing, the traveler underwent additional inspection, a routine part of CBP’s inspection process when officers need to verify information or determine admissibility,” and after “inspection,” Artan was “determined to be inadmissible due to vetting concerns and was denied entry.”

Rob Bluey, executive editor of the Daily Signal, supports DHS’s caution, posting on X, “I’d rather have strong vetting than the alternative.”

Al-Shabaab has been responsible for attacks on U.S. service members abroad, such as the 2020 terrorist attack on Manda Bay Airfield, which killed two, and the 2013 four-day takeover of a mall in Kenya that took the lives of 67 civilians.

Most recently, the group executed major bombings in Somalia, which claimed dozens of lives, and conducted mass shootings against beachgoers.

“The case of Omar Artan serves as the latest and most damning proof that American policy extends beyond security concerns to encompass broad ethnic discrimination,” the Islamic terrorist group wrote in a statement Wednesday.

The group appeared to have used this as an opportunity to recruit new members to carry out its mission of regaining power and establishing “divine” Sharia law governance in East Africa and abroad.

“We issue an urgent call to action to the Somali people, specifically the youth. Let us join hands and build a Somalia that is defined by honor, absolute independence from all forms of foreign occupation, and divine governance by Islamic Sharia.“

The World Cup gets underway this afternoon with Mexico squaring off against South Africa.