FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey missed his first team appearance. world cup He played in the game after being denied a Canadian visa while awaiting trial on rape charges in the UK, but although he was clearly snubbed in the pregame handshake line and received a cold reception from fans, he returned to action on Tuesday.
Partey was booed by the pro-England crowd at Gillette Stadium when he touched the ball during the match. ended in a 0-0 draw. Video too spread on social media England defender Jed Spence appeared to refuse to shake Partey’s hand before the match.
When England manager Thomas Tuchel was asked about the encounter after the match, his team’s media chief Andrew Walker interjected: “Sorry, but for legal reasons we’re not going to discuss that today. Let’s move on.”
In the video, Spence shook hands with players before and after the party, but appeared to have his hands in his pockets as the struggling midfielder passed.
Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz denied there was any disrespect.
“Look, this never happened,” Queiroz said. “We refuse to be part of those who try to bring trash and politics into the game. We fight to keep the four lines sacred. Sometimes it’s difficult, but it happens.”
Partey, who played five seasons for Premier League side Arsenal and last season at Villarreal in Spain, has been accused by four different women of sexual assault and rape.
A lawyer for the party said in March that the 33-year-old Ghanaian: He plans to plead not guilty to two new rape charges. Mr Partey was charged in the UK after a woman claimed he raped her twice on the same day in December 2020. Mr Partey was awaiting trial on separate charges of five counts of rape relating to two other women and one count of sexual assault relating to another woman, but the new charges emerged after the trial. The first set of charges were made public.
Suspicion led Canada refuses to issue visas to contracting countries Ahead of Ghana’s opening game in Toronto on Wednesday. 1-0 victory over Panama. Ghana’s final group game will also be played in the United States, against Croatia in Philadelphia on Sunday.
Ghana midfielder Kwasi Sibo said, “We were all happy when we saw him start the match.” “We are all with him so that he can stay focused and help the team, because he is our main player and we are always with him.”
“Things happen outside of football that you can’t control, so right now I feel fine and ready to play,” Partey, who did not speak to reporters Tuesday, said after the team’s practice Monday.
And his team was happy to have him back.
“He’s a great guy,” Sibo said. “He has experience playing in the top league, so we learn a lot from him every time we train with him or have a training camp.”
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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
