ACCRA, Ghana – In a diplomatic standoff tied to the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, the Ghanaian government announced Saturday it has submitted an official protest opposing Canada’s decision to bar national team star Thomas Partey from entering the country over pending criminal charges in the United Kingdom. The 32-year-old midfielder, currently playing for Villarreal CF after a stint at Arsenal, faces one count of sexual assault and seven counts of rape stemming from allegations put forward by four separate women between 2020 and 2022. He has formally pleaded not guilty to all charges, and a UK trial is scheduled to begin next year.
The visa denial has ruled Partey out of Ghana’s Group L opening match against Panama, scheduled to take place in Toronto on June 17. The Arsenal alum was able to secure a visa to enter the United States, where Ghana has set up its pre-tournament team camp in Boston. He remains eligible to play in the team’s subsequent group stage fixtures against England and Croatia, both of which are hosted on U.S. soil. If Ghana advances to the knockout stage of the tournament, the team would have to return to Canada – a scenario that could reignite the dispute over Partey’s entry.
In an official statement shared to social media by Ghanaian Foreign Minister Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa, authorities described Canada’s decision as “high-handed and extremely unfair”, noting that Partey is an irreplaceable core member of Ghana’s senior national side. The government emphasized that while it recognizes Canada’s sovereign authority to regulate its own immigration borders, the choice to bar Partey based on unproven allegations without a final judicial conviction violates core principles of fairness and proportionality.
“Ghana has dispatched an official note of protest” to Canadian authorities, the statement read, adding that the document also calls on the Canadian government to “reviews its unfortunate decision”. Ghana has further committed to pursuing all available diplomatic and legal remedies under both Canadian law and international law, pushing Ottawa to reverse the ruling in line with long-held common law principles that grant presumption of innocence to accused individuals.
FIFA has already confirmed that Partey will not be permitted to travel from Ghana’s U.S. camp to Toronto for the upcoming match. U.S. immigration authorities, for their part, have taken a different approach: officials confirmed they are aware of Partey’s pending UK trial, but noted he has not been convicted of any offense, and approved his visa application to enter the country.
Canadian immigration officials declined to comment on the specifics of Partey’s case, citing standard policy around individual application privacy. They added that protecting the safety and security of Canadian citizens is the department’s top priority, and that all visa applications are processed under the same consistent rules, with no exceptions made regardless of an applicant’s nationality, public profile, or role in the World Cup tournament.