3 min readJun 13, 2026 07:11 PM IST
Seeking a review, the Ghana government has called Canada’s decision to reject midfielder Thomas Partey a visa “high-handed and extremely unfair”. The former Arsenal player will miss his country’s FIFA World Cup 2026 opener against Panama, in Toronto on Wednesday.
In a strongly worded statement, the West African nation’s foreign ministry said that it understood the decision was based on pending criminal proceedings in Britain. The 32-year-old Partey, who currently plays for Villarreal, has pleaded not guilty to multiple allegations of rape and sexual assault by four women between 2020 and 2022.
Partey, who will stand trial next year, is with the rest of the Ghana squad in Boston. He could feature in their subsequent Group L matches against England in Foxborough and versus Croatia in Philadelphia.
Ghana’s foreign ministry said it had released an official note of protest requesting that Canada review its decision. “The Government of the Republic of Ghana expresses strong reservations following the high-handed and extremely unfair decision by Canada,” the statement read.
“While respecting Canada’s sovereign right to enforce its immigration laws, Ghana considers that reliance on unproven charges in the absence of a judicial determination raises fundamental questions of fairness and proportionality.”
Reuters quoted a spokesperson for Canada’s immigration, refugees and citizenship as saying that the country had been consistent in that hosting major events does not change immigration laws. “Every person seeking to come to Canada is assessed individually, based on the facts available and the law that applies,” the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, global football governing body FIFA said it was not involved in the immigration processes of host nations.
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Partey’s case is the latest immigration-related controversy to erupt at the World Cup, which is being co-hosted by Canada, the United States and Mexico. The USA earlier denied entry to Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan, who had been due to officiate at the tournament. An official from US President Donald Trump’s administration said the country’s authorities had discovered “association with suspected members of terror organizations”.
After returning to Somalia, Artan described the visa decision as a matter of “fate” and urged fellow Somalis not to lose heart over it.
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