New Delhi, June 10 (IANS) The chief of the White House Task Force for the FIFA World Cup, Andrew Giuliani, has defended the decision to deny visas to a Somali referee and certain support staff members of the Iranian football team, just days before the global showpiece kicks off in North America.

Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan, who was due to officiate in the FIFA World Cup, was denied entry to the United States on Tuesday. Artan was among the 52 referees announced by FIFA to officiate at the World Cup finals in Canada, Mexico and the United States, which runs from June 11 to July 19.

“So there’s been one referee who has not been admitted, and while I can’t go into the details, what I can tell you at a high level is it was for a very good reason. I support that decision. I was speaking directly with the secretary of Homeland Security and the commissioner of CBP on Sunday.

“The days are blending together. It was for very good reason that ultimately this referee did not get in the country,” Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the task force, said at an event in Washington.

On the other hand, Iran, who are scheduled to play their three group stage games in America, relocated their training camp from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico, after facing difficulties with U.S. visa processing for team staff and amid security concerns surrounding the ongoing military conflict.

“All the Iranian coaching staff is coming in. There are some Iranian officials that are not coming in. Again, for very good reason, I can’t get into the particulars on that, but as you can imagine, there are some people that claim that they are coaches that may not be coaches,” Giuliani added.

Iran have outlined travel arrangements for the national team’s group-stage matches at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with players set to travel from their base in Mexico to host cities in the United States for each game.

“And for the national team, all 31 players have had their visas issued, 26 plus the five additional players as well. They’re going to be able to come into the country the day before their match. They’re based in Tijuana, which is about a 25-minute flight to Los Angeles. So it’ll be a real quick flight for them to be able to get up there. If they were to drive up LA, it might take eight hours. So I definitely recommend that they end up flying,” Giuliani said.

–IANS

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