The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the decision by the United States government to deny entry to Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan, despite his official appointment by FIFA as one of the match officials for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Artan, who was set to become the first Somali referee in history to officiate at a FIFA World Cup, was denied entry upon arrival in Miami despite possessing a valid visa and having travelled to the United States in his official capacity as a FIFA official.
This shameful incident confirms exactly what progressive and anti-imperialist forces across the world warned FIFA about when the tournament was awarded to the United States. The EFF cautioned that it was reckless to place the world’s most celebrated sporting competition in a country that has institutionalised discrimination, weaponised immigration policy, and continues to treat people from Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and other parts of the Global South as security threats rather than human beings.
The exclusion of Artan is merely the latest manifestation of a pattern of discrimination that has marked this tournament before a single ball has been kicked. In recent weeks, Iran’s national football team was forced to abandon plans to establish its training base in the United States and instead relocate to Mexico because of visa complications, security concerns and restrictions imposed by US authorities.
Reports indicate that Iran’s players only received their visas shortly before the tournament, while several members of the team’s support staff were denied visas altogether. Iran has further complained that its delegation would be forced to travel into and out of the United States for matches rather than being treated like every other participating nation.
There have also been reports of players, officials, photographers and delegates from countries targeted by United States immigration restrictions being subjected to prolonged questioning, arbitrary vetting procedures, and humiliating treatment upon arrival at American ports of entry.
What makes this situation particularly unacceptable is that the United States was awarded hosting rights despite an extensive and well-documented history of discriminatory immigration practices, racial profiling, and the targeting of minority communities. The same state that separates migrant families at its borders, disproportionately incarcerates Black people, persecutes undocumented migrants, and routinely subjects Muslim communities to surveillance and suspicion, has now been entrusted with hosting the largest sporting event on earth.
The treatment of Artan is particularly offensive because it robs both Somalia and the African continent of a historic achievement. Here was a referee who had risen through the ranks of African football, been recognised as one of the continent’s finest officials, yet his achievement has been undermined by the discriminatory actions of a host nation that believes itself entitled to decide which Africans may participate in global events and which may not. The EFF therefore calls on FIFA to publicly account for how it intends to protect players, officials, journalists and supporters from discriminatory treatment throughout the duration of the tournament. We further call on the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the African Union, and all African football associations to formally protest the treatment of Artan and demand guarantees that no other African participant will face discrimination, harassment, or exclusion during this tournament.
The EFF has consistently called for proportional representation in electoral systems.
Starshine
A British man on safari walks into a bar far out in the reaches of a game reserve in Southern Africa, he stays at the bar for a while shooting the shit with the bartender and drinking like a fish, he offer to buy the barkeep a round and since no one else is within 2km of their small oasis of liquor the barkeep obliges. The englishman goes off to the bathroom to have a good old go at the porcelain, he\’s back and ready for a few more whiskeys. He\’s just sat down when suddenly in the distance he hears a scream. He looks over his shoulder and dismisses it as nothing, he turns to the barkeep and orders a drink, takes a sip and hears the scream again. He looks at the barkeep who just shrugs it off. A minute or two later he and the barman hear it again and go outside to take a look. They see a lone figure running towards them screaming, he spots them and lets out a cry, RUN!!!!! HE\”S COMING!!!!!
The barkeep and the Englishman both look at the terrified bedraggled sight before them, and try to calm him down, but he\’s completely inconsolable. They give him water and finally manage to get a word out of him but he struggles free from their grasp and run away screaming.
A few minutes later the same thing happens with a whole group of men running in and screaming, he\’s coming, he\’s coming the barkeep grabs hold of one of the men as he tries to sprint past the bar and tries to get information out of him, again no response other than terrified gibberish.
The barkeep and his customer are starting to get worried, they start to pack up before another group of horrified natives run up to the bar most of them flee but one tries to hide behind the bar, the barkeep pulls out a shotgun and points it at the terrified man\’s face, finally managing to coax some words out of him. \”He\’s coming for us, Vernon Koekemoer is coming for us, we have to hide!!! We have to get out of here.\” He gets up and tries to run but the barkeep grabs him, feeling trapped in a panic he grabs the barkeeps shotgun and blows his own head off. The Englishman and the barkeep look at each other starting to really panic now.
They look out of the window and off in the distance they see a tornado coming towards the bar, at the bottom of the tornado they see the hugest beast of a man they have ever seen, as he gets closer they spot that he is riding a rhinocerous and using a crocodile as a riding whip, with each smack of the crocodile across the back of the rhino the louder is screams and the faster it runs, the tornado following it getting ever larger.
The 2 look at each other and start to fortify their position, they\’ve got a gun and they\’re waaay to drunk to run, so they start piling bar stool and tables and anything they can get their hands on to make sure they\’ll be safe when he arrives. They\’re not gonna make it, they can see the man slowing down his rhino, by now the crocodile is nothing but reptile paste on the bruised rump of the half dead rhino, the rhino drops down dead from exhaustion and crashes to the ground right outside the bar the tornado loses it\’s last breath in a cloud of dust as the huge man crashes his way through the make shift barricade and charges up towards the bar where the 2 men have taken shelter, he grabs a bottle of the hardest liquor on the shelf and down the entire litre in 1 gulp, he peers over the bar sobbing and sees the 2 defenders cowering down behind the crates of beer, they look up at the mans\’ face and he stares at them with a look of complete and utter hopelessness, he stares at them for a half second and half screams, half sobs, \”Oh my god what are you still doing here!!! WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE NOW!!!! Vernon Koekemoer is coming!!!!\”
Sky Bully
Interview with a pirate:
There was a pirate who had agreed to do an interview with a local tv station. The reporter was very courteous and professional, giving a bit of background as to the pirate\’s business. She then began interviewing him.
\”So Mr. Longbeard, are there any risks to your business? I see you have a peg leg- how did that come about?\”
\”Well, y\’see I were sailing along the coast of South Africa, looking to plunder some locals when as I boarded the small boat from the ship, a great white shark came up and got my leg clean off. \’twas scary yes, but thus is the life of a pirate.\”
\”Wow, that is pretty scary- well, how about your hook? What happened to your hand with that?\”
\”Oh now that\’s quite the tale, y\’see I were fighting a rival pirate, and we had locked swords. We had been fighting for a few hours, and were both terribly fatigued. I had a bit of exhaustion and confusion, and when I went to block one of his sword blows, I met him with me hand instead of me sword. Took it right off, but it shocked him so much I managed to get him back pretty good and have him submit. So the hook hand was given as a replacement.\”
\”Wow. Simply fascinating. Now, what about your eye patch? How did that happen?\”
\”Well, one day, a seagull was flying overhead, and I looked up. It pooped right in me eye.\”
\”… Well wow. I must admit, I wouldn\’t think just seagull poop could damage the eye that badly.\”
\”Oh, I forgot to mention… it were me first day with the hook.\”