The head of the White House Task Force for the World Cup on Tuesday defended the decision not to grant visas to a Somali referee and some support staff for the Iranian team.
“To this point, we’ve had 35 teams that have come into the United States,” Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the task force, said at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council in Washington.
“No players, no coaches have been denied,” Giuliani said. “There have been some officials who have been denied, and for good reason.”
“We’re striking that balance between making sure that any bad actors that…try to come into the country under the guise of the World Cup will not get access to the United States,” he added.
Giuliani, the son of former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, was asked specifically about the decision to bar Somali referee Omar Artan from entering the country.
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