Fans were left bemused as the TV cameras cut away from the pre-match handshake when Thomas Partey approached England’s players ahead of their clash with Ghana.
Partey, 33, faces seven charges of rape and one count of sexual assault relating to allegations made by four different women between 2020 and 2022. He has pleaded not guilty and is due to stand trial in London in June next year.
And, as the players conducted their formalities before kick-off, there was much anticipation over how England’s stars would act when Partey passed them by.
The FA had reportedly not issued any instructions on how their players should act when they came up against Partey ahead of the game at the Gillette Stadium in Boston, but viewers missed the moment when it happened, with several fans taking to social media to share their confusion.
One video from inside the stadium that captured the handshake then shed new light on the situation.
The clip appeared to show Djed Spence ignoring Partey as he came past after greeting every other Ghana player.
Thomas Partey made his World Cup bow against England in Boston on Tuesday evening
The former Arsenal star said in that build-up that he would be ‘really happy’ to see his former Arsenal team-mates Bukayo Saka (second left) and Declan Rice (centre) again
All members of England’s squad, including substitutes, are part of the formalities for World Cup matches, and every other player seemed to shake Partey’s hand.
Meanwhile, boos had been heard around the stadium as the midfielder’s name was announced before kick-off.
The former Arsenal player was making his World Cup entrance on Tuesday evening after he was denied entry to Canada for Ghana’s first group stage game against Panama, which was played at Toronto’s BMO Field.
The Ghanaian government sought permission for him to enter the country to take part in the game but that appeal was rejected at a federal court in Ottawa.
The appeal ruling said there was ‘no serious issue in the underlying refusal’ of the visa and ‘the applicant failed to disclose that he is the subject of multiple criminal charges for sexual violence in the UK’.
In a perhaps surprising move ahead of the England game, Partey chose to face the media where he said that ‘things that happen outside football you cannot control’ in regard to having his entry into Canada denied.
‘I think for me now it’s part of football,’ Partey said. ‘Things happen outside football that you cannot control but for me now I feel OK and I am ready to play.’
When asked if he was looking forward to seeing former team-mates Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka again – and whether he had kept in touch with the pair – he did not answer the latter part of the question.
‘I’m really happy to see them again,’ he said. ‘I hope they are going to bring their best and try to give ourselves also the opportunity to play against the best and try to compete and enjoy the game.’
Ghana boss Carlos Queiroz has only briefly spoken on the matter, asserting that it was ‘not for me to make a judgement about’.
‘Let the events run their normal course; let the river flow and one day when the river meets the ocean we are going to find the truth,’ he said earlier this month.
Partey was picked from the start for the match by Queiroz as he won his 59th cap for Ghana.
Despite first being arrested in July 2022, Partey continued to represent Arsenal until his contract expired at the end of the 2024-25 season. He was charged a week after his deal ended, and is now with Villarreal, in Spain, although he is set to leave the club this summer after they decided not to extend his deal.
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