Canadian Court Dismisses Partey's Appeal for World Cup Game Entry

A Canadian court has dismissed an appeal by Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey after he was denied entry into the country for his team’s game against Panama at the World Cup.

The Canadian government last week refused a visa for Partey, 33, after which his lawyers launched a last-minute appeal to the Federal Court in Ottawa, but the appeal was lost on Tuesday.

The Black Stars will play Panama in their Group L match in Toronto on Wednesday.

In dismissing the appeal, Judge Roger Lafreniere wrote that Partey had sought “extraordinary, mandatory interlocutory relief” that would have required Canada to set aside a “lawfully rendered inadmissibility finding and facilitate his entry for a specific event”.

Ahead of the verdict, Partey’s lawyer, Mackeda Bramwell, told the Reuters news agency that they would not appeal if the judge ruled against him.

Former Arsenal midfielder Partey faces allegations of rape and sexual assault in the United Kingdom. He has denied the charges.

The United States government has granted Partey a visa, but Canada’s immigration officials said that under Canadian law, foreign nationals can be found inadmissible without a foreign conviction.

“When there are reasonable grounds to believe an act that would trigger inadmissibility has been committed by an applicant, they can be deemed inadmissible to Canada,” a spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said.

Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz said they are prepared to play without Partey.

“We have our plan settled,” Queiroz told a news conference before the court’s decision was released, adding that he had no comments to make about Partey.

“To add more comments about issues that are nonsense is not part of my business,” Queiroz said. “My business is to play with the cards that I have in front of me.”

In Ghana and across Canada’s Ghanaian diaspora, Partey’s visa refusal has led to anger and frustration among the national team’s fans.

Akua Mensah, 45, a Canadian with Ghanaian roots, said that Canada’s decision was unfortunate.