U.S. denies entry to referee over alleged terror ties — Canadian politicians welcome him instead
June 11, 2026
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49:56Now PlayingU.S. denies entry to referee over alleged terror ties — Canadian politicians welcome him instead
YouTube Description
as posted by the channelToronto Mayor Olivia Chow immediately issued a public statement saying Omar Artan would be welcome to officiate in her city and pledging to write to FIFA on his behalf.
Tonight, on The Ezra Levant Show, the United States stops a terrorist-linked Somali referee from coming to America — but two Canadian politicians say he's welcome here.
There is a giant soccer tournament underway in North America right now, with international teams and referees descending on cities across Canada and the United States. One of those referees is Omar Artan, a Somali official who was supposed to travel to Florida for a pre-tournament training camp.
He was blocked at the border. American authorities denied him entry.
The reason? The United States says Omar Artan has ties to al-Shabaab — the Islamic terrorist organization responsible for mass killings across the Horn of Africa and beyond.
So what did Canada's political class do with that information?
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow immediately issued a public statement saying Artan would be welcome to officiate in her city and pledging to write to FIFA on his behalf. Within hours, British Columbia Premier David Eby offered an identical message. Two senior Canadian politicians, racing to the microphone to vouch for a man the United States just flagged as having terrorist connections.
It gets worse. The Republic of Somaliland — a breakaway state that has actively distanced itself from Somali Islamist extremism — went through Artan's old social media posts and translated them. In one post, he wrote that Jews target Muslims and Arabs and suck their blood.
Why would Western countries take people who are affiliated with terrorists, who are violent, who are antisemitic, or hostile to any other group? It's hard to say, but that seems to be the Canadian way.
GUEST: Rebel News' extended coverage of last weekend's Walk With Israel in Toronto.
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