The Football Association is maintaining a cautious stance as England prepares for their upcoming World Cup match against Ghana on Tuesday, where they will encounter Thomas Partey, a former Arsenal midfielder. Partey, who played for Villarreal this season, is set to leave the club following the expiration of his contract this month.
In the customary pre-match handshake, players are expected to greet their opponents, leaving it up to England’s squad to decide whether to engage in this ritual with Partey. Among the players are Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka, both of whom previously played alongside him.
For many, extending a handshake may feel awkward. Partey is due to stand trial next year at Southwark Crown Court after being charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault last year, followed by two additional rape charges. He has denied all allegations, with his legal representative asserting that he looks forward to the opportunity to exonerate himself.
He was absent from Ghana’s opening World Cup match against Panama on Thursday, not due to any reservations from the Ghanaian FA regarding his selection. Head coach Carlos Queiroz, who once served as an assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, has publicly stated that his player should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. “Let events run their normal course, let the river flow and one day, when the river meets the ocean, we will find the truth,” he remarked.
Partey’s absence during Ghana’s first match stemmed from the game being held in Toronto, where Canadian authorities denied him entry. However, he is eligible to participate against England in Boston, as he has received a visa from the United States.
The Ghanaian midfielder is not the only player facing serious allegations at the World Cup. Japan’s Kaishu Sano was arrested in 2024 for gang-rape after he and two friends were accused of sexually assaulting a female companion following a celebratory dinner in Tokyo, related to his transfer from Kashima Antlers to Mainz. The woman contacted law enforcement immediately after the incident, leading to the arrest of the three men in proximity to the scene.
Charges against Sano were subsequently dropped after he reportedly issued an apology to the complainant and made a significant monetary settlement. He later expressed remorse for the trouble his actions caused, stating: “I am truly sorry for causing trouble to so many people with my actions,” before rejoining the national team.
As Achraf Hakimi from Morocco geared up to face Scotland on Friday, a French court confirmed that he would be tried for an alleged rape involving a woman in 2023, a claim he denies. The woman, then 24, reported to police that she met Hakimi, now a two-time Champions League champion with Paris Saint-Germain, through Instagram and went to his home, where he allegedly assaulted her.
Following the Versailles court’s ruling, Hakimi took to X, expressing that he had been “waiting for this trial since day one. At last, I’ll be able to speak.” A trial date has yet to be established.
In Partey’s situation, there was initial blame directed towards the co-hosts, as Ghana’s foreign affairs ministry criticized “the high‑handed and extremely unfair decision by Canada to refuse a temporary residence application” asserting that “Ghana considers that reliance on unproven charges in the absence of a judicial determination raises fundamental questions of fairness and proportionality.”
Diplomatic efforts were made; however, when the Ghana FA contested the visa denial in court, it was revealed that Partey had provided misleading information in his visa application. The court stated.
“In the statutory criminality and security questions of the application, the applicant [Partey] answered ‘No’ to having ever committed, been arrested for, charged with or convicted of any criminal offence in any country.”
This response was particularly ill-advised, considering he is embroiled in a highly publicized rape case concerning allegations from his time at Arsenal. Consequently, his appeal was likely to fail, which it did, inciting political outrage in Ghana, not due to his fitness to represent the nation but because of the Ghanaian FA’s oversight in allowing such a fundamental error.
“All this while we were being fed lies and inaccurate information, creating a false impression about why Partey was denied entry into Canada,” remarked Fiifi Boafo, a politician from the opposition New Patriotic Party in Ghana, on Facebook. “What we are witnessing now is an ‘amateur hour’ at the GFA,”
Others expressed shame over Ghana’s portrayal. “Someone must be held responsible for this error.” stated Dr. Joshua Jebuntie Zaato, a senior fellow at the University of Ghana, during an appearance on TV3 Ghana. “had a duty to support and facilitate visa applications for all accredited members of the Ghana delegation”
“The court did not make any finding of fault, negligence, misconduct or incompetence against the Ghana Football Association. The GFA remains satisfied that it acted diligently, professionally, and in good faith at all times in support of the player and the national team.”
As a result, while his teammates made their way to Boston, Partey remained at the team’s training facility at Bryant University in Rhode Island. Ghana’s impressive 1-0 victory against Panama, featuring a last-minute goal from Caleb Yirenkyi, has somewhat alleviated scrutiny from Ghanaian officials.
Pre-match handshakes have occasionally led to uncomfortable moments among footballers, often due to personal disputes like those between John Terry and Wayne Bridge or Patrice Evra and Luis Suárez.
The FA has not taken an official stance, and legal experts believe it would be imprudent to do so, as Partey’s lawyer would likely argue that such a position could be prejudicial to his upcoming trial. While this stance wouldn’t necessarily result in a trial being dismissed, it would be an unnecessary position for the FA.
Most England players are not anticipated to avoid Partey; they generally view the pre-match handshake as a routine formality without significant implications.
Additional reporting by Gavin Blair
