A referee from Somalia said on Tuesday that the biggest dream of his professional life had been shattered after the American authorities denied him permission to enter the United States to participate in the World Cup soccer tournament.

The referee, Omar Abdulkadir Artan, was one of 52 selected for this summer’s World Cup in North America. He was one of seven African referees to be chosen for the tournament and would have been the first Somali to referee a World Cup game.

Speaking for the first time since he was denied entry to the United States, Mr. Artan told The New York Times that officiating a World Cup game would have been a symbol for all Somalis of what they could achieve in spite of their country’s difficulties.

“I am very, very disappointed,” Mr. Artan said in a telephone interview from Istanbul, the city he had been flown to after he was refused entry. “I’m just simply a referee who’s trying to live his dream, the biggest dream of my life, to come to the World Cup.”

Mr. Artan flew to Miami International Airport on Saturday, five days before the first game of the tournament, on Thursday, but was prevented from entering the United States by border officials, who took him aside and questioned him in a small room overnight.

“I had the right papers and everything. I had the right visa,” Mr. Artan said, adding that he had also showed documentation from FIFA as well as photographs of his career of over a decade as a professional referee. Border officials also checked online material detailing Mr. Artan’s career, he said. He was named referee of the year in 2025 by the Confederation of African Football, which governs soccer in Africa.