In an intriguing prelude to the World Cup match in Boston, England’s defender Djed Spence appeared to forgo shaking hands with Ghana’s midfielder Thomas Partey.
As reported by Daily Mail Sport, the topic of shaking hands with Partey, formerly of Arsenal, was not a point of discussion among the Three Lions. Team officials chose to focus solely on the game rather than off-field controversies.
Even though FIFA cameras missed capturing the moment, several of Thomas Tuchel’s team members were seen either shaking hands or fist-bumping the 33-year-old Partey. He currently faces serious accusations, including seven counts of rape and one of sexual assault. Notably, Tottenham’s Spence, who holds the distinction of being the first Muslim to represent England, abstained from this gesture.
Partey, a former star for Arsenal, was present at the start of the match after he was previously unable to travel to Canada for his team’s opening game due to visa issues.
He is expected to stand trial for these allegations at Southwark Crown Court next year.
Before World Cup matches, it is customary for opposition players to shake hands. And England’s players were left in a tricky situation, amid much debate about the gesture.
Most of England’s players shook Thomas Partey’s hand ahead of their clash with Ghana
But Djed Spence refused to greet the former Arsenal midfielder in the pre-match formalities
Partey was making his 2026 World Cup bow against England in Boston on Tuesday evening
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Officials in Canada had turned down an appeal against the decision not to allow Partey entry at a hearing where it emerged details of the charges had not been declared when an application was made for a visa.
There were loud boos when Partey’s name was flashed up as part of Ghana’s line-up on the huge screen at Boston Stadium from what was an overwhelmingly pro-England crowd.
That said, the pockets of Ghana supporters, some in shirts with his name and number five on the back, cheered louder than they did for any other of their players.
Indeed, some brought homemade placards pledging their support.
During the warm-up there was no interaction between the two squads, however, contact could not be avoided when, following the national anthems, it was time for the handshake.
While cameras cut away from Partey, from a distance it appeared as though Spence, 25, withdrew his hand.
A video shared to social media seemed to back this up, with Partey taking a quick look back at Spence after he passed him.
When asked by Daily Mail sport for his thoughts on the incident, a press officer interjected and said Tuchel could not comment for legal reasons.
Although the live feed of the game showed some of the handshakes, it cut away as Partey approached England’s players
Meanwhile, fans watching the game on TV expressed their bemusement that the world feed of the match hadn’t shown the moment when Partey approached England’s players.
One said: ‘Did they deliberately cut away from the Partey handshake?’
Another added: ‘The camera man bottled showing the England players shaking hands with Thomas Partey,’ before a further fan said: ‘Camera panned away to the fans when Partey was shaking England’s players hands.’
Several others chimed in with similar views, including one who said: ‘Did the English players shake (hands with) Thomas Partey or not? The camera didn’t really show it properly.’
An extra supporter added: ‘The camera changing when they’re doing the handshakes to ignore Partey…’
Despite an initial arrest in July 2022, Partey continued to represent Arsenal until his contract expired at the end of the 2024-25 season.
He is now with Villarreal, in Spain, although he is set to leave the club this summer after they decided not to renew his deal.
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