3 min learnJun 13, 2026 07:11 PM IST
In search of a assessment, the Ghana authorities has known as Canada’s resolution to reject midfielder Thomas Partey a visa “high-handed and very unfair”. The previous Arsenal participant will miss his nation’s FIFA World Cup 2026 opener in opposition to Panama, in Toronto on Wednesday.
In a strongly worded assertion, the West African nation’s overseas ministry stated that it understood the choice was based mostly on pending prison proceedings in Britain. The 32-year-old Partey, who at present performs for Villarreal, has pleaded not responsible to a number of allegations of rape and sexual assault by 4 girls between 2020 and 2022.
Partey, who will stand trial subsequent yr, is with the remainder of the Ghana squad in Boston. He might characteristic of their subsequent Group L matches in opposition to England in Foxborough and versus Croatia in Philadelphia.
Ghana’s overseas ministry stated it had launched an official observe of protest requesting that Canada assessment its resolution. “The Authorities of the Republic of Ghana expresses robust reservations following the high-handed and very unfair resolution by Canada,” the assertion learn.
“Whereas respecting Canada’s sovereign proper to implement its immigration legal guidelines, Ghana considers that reliance on unproven fees within the absence of a judicial dedication raises elementary questions of equity and proportionality.”
Reuters quoted a spokesperson for Canada’s immigration, refugees and citizenship as saying that the nation had been constant in that internet hosting main occasions doesn’t change immigration legal guidelines. “Each individual looking for to return to Canada is assessed individually, based mostly on the info accessible and the regulation that applies,” the spokesperson stated.
In the meantime, world soccer governing physique FIFA stated it was not concerned within the immigration processes of host nations.
Story continues beneath this advert
Partey’s case is the newest immigration-related controversy to erupt on the World Cup, which is being co-hosted by Canada, the USA and Mexico. The USA earlier denied entry to Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan, who had been as a result of officiate on the match. An official from US President Donald Trump’s administration stated the nation’s authorities had found “affiliation with suspected members of terror organizations”.
After returning to Somalia, Artan described the visa resolution as a matter of “destiny” and urged fellow Somalis to not lose coronary heart over it.