Ghana to take legal action after Partey denied entry to Canada

The Ghanaian government says it intends to take legal action in Canada’s federal court against the “grossly unfair” decision to deny Thomas Partey entry into the country. The Athletic information.

Ghana will play their first World Cup match at BMO Field in Toronto against Panama on Wednesday, June 17. The Athletic exclusively revealed on Friday that midfielder Partey, 33, would not be allowed to participate after being denied entry to Canada.

The Ghanaian government statement said the ruling “is understood to be based on pending criminal proceedings in the United Kingdom which have not resulted in any conviction or judicial plea of ​​guilty.”

The Villarreal midfielder, a former Arsenal player, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault in July 2025 by London’s Metropolitan Police. In September of that year he pleaded not guilty. In February of this year he was charged with two new charges of rape, to which he pleaded not guilty in April.

In a statement published on

Also read: We are firmly behind Partey –Ghana FA

“The Government of Ghana reaffirms the fundamental legal principle of the presumption of innocence, the cornerstone of justice and due process in democratic societies,” the statement read.

The Ghana government statement said it was informed that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) made the decision on grounds of inadmissibility under paragraph A36(1)(c) of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). The Athletic has approached IRCC for comment.

That clause states: “A permanent resident or foreign national is inadmissible on serious criminal grounds for committing an act outside Canada which is an offense in the place where it was committed and which, if committed in Canada, would constitute an offense under an Act of Parliament punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of at least 10 years.”

Partey arrived with his national team teammates in Washington DC on June 4. The Ghana team traveled to their training base in Rhode Island on Friday. Their other group stage matches will take place against England at Gillette Stadium (Boston) on June 23 and against Croatia at Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia) on June 27.

If Ghana makes it through the group stage as one of the best third-place finishers, they could play in Vancouver in the round of 32.