Omar

Joining Eintracht Frankfurt in May 2023 on a free transfer from Wolfsburg, the then 24-year-old Marmoush found form in his first season with the German side scoring 17 times across all competitions.

He then scored 15 Bundesliga goals from 8.9 expected goals (xG) during the first half of 2024-25, while registering nine assists in 17 league appearances. Across all competitions before leaving Germany, he had 20 goals and 13 assists in 26 games.

Set-pieces were another notable part of his game. Marmoush became the first player in Europe’s top five leagues since Lionel Messi in 2019 to score directly from a free-kick in three consecutive competitive matches. Manchester City then paid £59m for him in January 2025.

The early signs were encouraging. Marmoush scored his first career hat-trick against Newcastle, struck the winner in City’s FA Cup quarter-final at Bournemouth and then scored from long range against the same opponents in the Premier League. It was judged to be the goal of the season.

But there were difficult moments too.

With City trailing Crystal Palace in the 2025 FA Cup final, Erling Haaland handed Marmoush the ball for a penalty. His effort was saved by Dean Henderson as City went on to lose at Wembley.

Former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha does not believe that moment should define Marmoush’s spell at the club.

“When I see Marmoush, I don’t see the penalty miss,” Onuoha told BBC Sport. “I see the strength he has with some of the runs he makes in behind.”

Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan was denied entry into the United States for the World Cup after enduring an 11-hour interrogation in Miami, according to media reports. Andrew Giuliani, head of the White House Task Force on the World Cup, indicated Artan was suspected to having ties to a Somali militant group.

“We want to make sure we are not going to allow a soccer tournament to be the opportunity for terrorists to potentially get in the country or anybody who is actually talking to them,” Giuliani told the British Broadcasting Corporation.

The New York Times reported that Artan’s name is similar to that of a man identified as linked to Al Shabab, a group that has been the target of U.S. government sanctions.

“I am very, very disappointed,” Artan told the Times from Istanabul, where he stopped on his way back to Somalia. “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.”

Safety was purportedly the concern with Artan, whose interrogation was conducted by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“During processing, the traveler underwent additional inspection, a routine part of CBP’s inspection process when officers need to verify information or determine admissibility,” CBP said in a statement. “Following inspection, the traveler, a referee for the FIFA World Cup, was determined to be inadmissible due to vetting concerns and was denied entry.”

Somalia is on the U.S. list of banned countries for immigration, although exceptions can be made. Artan is considered one of the best referees in Africa, having officiated in the Somali national football league championship and at the African Cup of Nations.

“Despite the circumstances, I am in a positive mood and focused on the next challenges in my refereeing career,” Artan said in a statement. “I would like to thank FIFA and [the African federation] for all their support and I promise to keep my refereeing levels up as I concentrate on the future.”

Artan, Africa’s Referee of the Year in 2025, was greeted Wednesday at Aden Adde International Airport in Somalia by government officials and hundreds of well-wishers.

“I want to thank FIFA for supporting me all the way, and for Somali people also,” he told Al Jazeera. “So I am very grateful for FIFA and for CAF also. This is what I have to say.”