Canada refused to issue a visa to Thomas Partey of Ghana after an appeal
Thomas Partey, the Ghanaian footballer, has been denied entry to Canada due to ongoing criminal proceedings, preventing him from participating in the opening match of the World Cup against Panama. Although he was granted a visa by the US, the Canadian court rejected his appeal against visa denial.
An appeal to review the decision to deny a visa to Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey has been rejected by the Canadian federal court. The Ghanaian government filed an appeal after Partey was denied entry to Canada, which prevented him from participating in Ghana's opening World Cup match against Panama in Toronto on Wednesday. However, the appeal was dismissed by the Ottawa court on Tuesday. The visa issue of the midfielder who played for Arsenal is related to ongoing criminal proceedings in England. The 33-year-old denies seven charges of rape and one charge of sexual assault, relating to allegations from four different women between 2020 and 2022, and is expected to stand trial next year. Partey, who played in Spain for Villarreal last season, has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer said in March that the player planned to plead not guilty to two new charges of rape after a woman alleged that he twice raped her on the same day in December 2020. Thomas Partey was denied entry to Canada (AFP/Getty Images) He is also awaiting trial on five rape charges involving two other women and one sexual assault charge involving another woman, and other charges. New charges arose after the first set of charges were announced. Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz invoked the presumption of innocence for Partey when he included the player in his World Cup squad. The U.S. government granted Partey a visa, but Canadian immigration officials said that under Canadian law, foreign nationals can be found ineligible without a foreign criminal conviction. "Where there is reasonable cause to believe that an act that could result in ineligibility has been committed by an applicant, they may be deemed ineligible to enter Canada," said a spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. In Ghana and among the Ghanaian community in Canada, Partey's visa refusal led to anger and disappointment among fans. Speaking to Reuters on Monday, Akua Mensah, 45, a Canadian of Ghanaian origin, said the Canadian government's decision was unfortunate. Ghana's base camp for the World Cup is in Smithfield, Rhode Island, where Partey can train after being allowed into the US. As a result, Partey remains eligible for the match when Ghana plays England in Massachusetts on June 23. Ghana will then finish the group stage against Croatia in Philadelphia on June 27.
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