There weren’t many fans at the Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday evening. For a friendly between Wales and Ghana, maybe that wasn’t so much of a shock, but you’d be surprised how much noise can be generated in certain moments.
One of those fell five minutes in. The Ghanaian right-back, Marvin Senaya, had just played inside to the big guy in the yellow No 5 shirt and it was as if his touch had triggered a switch. The booing started immediately.
When the No 5 slipped a quick pass out to the other wing, the booing stopped just as quickly as it commenced. But then the ball worked its way back to him, this time from the left back, Gideon Mensah, and more booing. And louder.
The loudest of all came 25 minutes later. Daniel James was on the run and the big No 5 was on the hunt. Sliding in, he swiped James’s legs from under him. There was a yellow card, a few cheers and then the switch flipped on the booing once more; the stadium was two-thirds empty, but some causes just raise the temperature.
No doubt it’s a strange time to be Thomas Partey. And it’s a strange time to watch him play football.
But we’ll be doing a bit of that this summer – Partey has been picked for the Ghanaian squad at the World Cup and on June 23 he will most likely be in the starting line-up against England in Boston. The question of whether the English players will shake his hand is evidently one that is under consideration for the FA, according to reports on Tuesday.
Thomas Partey was booed by fans at the Cardiff City Stadium during Ghana’s clash with Wales
The FA will be well aware that many of Thomas Tuchel’s side know Partey well. Declan Rice, for one. Bukayo Saka, for another. Until last June, they were joined with Partey in the Arsenal cause.
But’s it’s complicated, right? There isn’t an elephant in the northern savannah of Ghana as big as the elephant in the room when it comes to their national team’s No 5.
It was in July last year that Partey was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, before two new counts of rape were added in February. That spans four women.
Partey has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges but that is for a jury to decide, and it is possible they won’t decide anything until early 2027.
So this is a curious limbo for football and for Partey. He knows the drill well enough by now – Partey was first arrested in connection to these matters in July 2022. He was the mystery footballer back then, unnamed for legal reasons, but the identity was an open secret.
The media knew, the fans knew, and Partey’s club at the time, Arsenal, knew. A protest group who set up stall outside the Emirates Stadium on matchday? They definitely knew and protested about Partey being picked week to week by Mikel Arteta.
In most workplaces, with such serious offences under police investigation, a suspension from duty would likely follow.
And yet football seems different. And Partey’s experience with Arsenal was different. Arteta played him 12 days after the first arrest in 2022 and used him in 52 games across the 2024-25 campaign, Partey’s last before his contract expired.
Mikel Arteta came in for criticism as he continued playing Thomas Partey at Arsenal
Arteta was vocal in his desire to extend his deal that season but there wasn’t a word on Arsenal’s website when Partey left on June 30, 2025. The club promoted a deal with a new beer partner, but said nothing on the exit of a first-teamer described as ‘exceptional’ by Arteta six weeks earlier.
The charges arrived days after Partey departed and he plays for Villarreal now. Presumably they see the situation the same way as Ghana’s manager, Carlos Queiroz.
This is how he put it in Wales: ‘It’s a simple and basic answer. As far as I know, in England, in Portugal, whatever, until the court makes a decision, the presumption of innocence is on the side of all court cases.
‘This is not for me or you to make a judgment about. Let the river flow and one day when the river meets the ocean we are going to find the truth.’
Others might see it as a babbling brook of nonsense and the pragmatism of a coach who needs a good midfielder. Queiroz wouldn’t be the first, but Welsh fans won’t be the last to favour a different view.
