A day after The Athletic broke the news that Canada had denied Thomas Partey a visa on the basis of “maintaining safety and security”, the Ghana midfielder was filmed interacting with children during a community event on Saturday at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island.Partey, formerly of Arsenal and now at Spanish side Villarreal, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault relating to three women in July 2025 by London’s Metropolitan Police. In September last year, he pleaded not guilty.He was charged with two new counts of rape in February this year, relating to a fourth woman, to which he pleaded not guilty in April. His lawyer, Jenny Wiltshire of Hickman and Rose, said in a statement that her client welcomes “the opportunity to finally clear his name”.The Ghana national team have been based at Bryant University campus, an official FIFA training base camp during the World Cup, since Friday after arriving from Washington D.C. The Athletic has visited the campus and spoken to people on-site to be able to report:
Partey came into close contact with several children during a “Community Day” at Bryant University’s campus on Saturday, where Ghana players engaged “with members of the Bryant community, fans across the globe, and local youth soccer groups”, according to a post on the university’s official Facebook page
