Ian Wright has lambasted the “World Cup of chaos” after a Somali referee was denied entry to the United States in the last few days. African official Omar Artan was turned away at Miami International Airport on Saturday by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) due to “vetting concerns.”
"The expensive tickets, the most expensive tickets ever, expensive accommodation, transport through the roof. It has to be said. "Is this how the hosts behave really for the greatest game, the greatest tournament in the world, is this how the hosts behave? "Are we not hearing more?
"I've just read that the Somalian referee has been denied entry. Every few hours it's another story, another story about fans denied, players denied, officials denied, journalists denied, now refs," said Wright, who will be working on the World Cup for ITV this summer.
"Is this how the hosts behave really for the greatest game, the greatest tournament in the world, is this how the hosts behave? "Are we not hearing more? Are we seeing how Qatar got dragged, are we not hearing more? Is this the spirit of football, really? "You know who I feel for? I feel for the American fans who are desperate for this, American soccer fans who are desperate for this, how embarrassed they must be. How embarrassing for them this must be. "This is the World Cup, this is a World Cup of chaos. Whoever wins this World Cup is going to have to go through some serious chaos to get this done. "I hope we can do it, but something has to be said now. This is the World Cup."
[uredio Belgrade Hawk - 11. lipnja 2026. u 08:19]
"Smisao života je jednostavno biti živ. To je tako očigledno, tako jednostavno, a ipak svi žure u panici kao da je neophodno postići nešto izvan sebe."