Ghana is threatening to take action after Canada refused the visa of star player Thomas Partey, who is suspected of rape and sexual assault

The Ghanaian government has taken Canada to task for its decision not to grant midfielder Thomas Partey a visa. The African country is also threatening legal action. Ghana will play its first World Cup match against Panama on the night from Wednesday to Thursday (Dutch time) in Toronto.

The 32-year-old midfielder Partey is one of Ghana’s best-known footballers and is a regular at the club Black Stars. He played for years for Arsenal, which acquired him from Spanish Atletico Madrid in 2020 for around 50 million euros. Since last year he has been playing in Spain again, now for Villarreal.

In England he is prosecuted for rape and sexual assault of three women in 2021 and 2022, thus the Public Prosecution Service. The Ghanaian Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote in an email on Saturday press release that Canada refuses to grant the player access due to the ongoing criminal case in the United Kingdom.

Partey says he is innocent. According to the Ghanaian government, Canada is violating the important legal principle of the presumption of innocence. It is based on “unproven allegations” on which no judicial decision has yet been made.

Ghana has raised the issue at a high diplomatic level with the Canadian representation in Accra and states that it will go to the Federal Court of Canada to challenge the decision if necessary.

Partey has been admitted to the United States, where the Ghanaian team resides. The visa issue surrounding the West African star player is the latest visa row of the World Cup. Earlier, a commotion arose when the United States refused entry to Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan because of alleged terrorism ties. Supporters from various countries also complained about visas being refused by America.

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