Ghana midfielder Partey enters not guilty plea in UK court

Ghana and Villarreal midfielder Thomas Partey on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to raping two women and sexually assaulting a third woman.

The 32-year-old former Arsenal player is accused of five counts of rape as well as one charge of sexual assault.

Partey was granted bail and will stand trial at Southwark Crown Court in November 2026.

The alleged offences took place between 2021 and 2022, when he was an Arsenal player.

Partey was charged four days after leaving the Premier League club following the expiry of his contract at the end of June.

The midfielder on Wednesday spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth before pleading not guilty to each of the charges against him during a short hearing at the court.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Christopher Hehir told Partey: “Your trial will take place at this court on November 2 of next year, 2026.

“I appreciate that is quite a long way in advance. As you may appreciate, the crown courts have a huge backlog of work, which means that trials do take a long time to come on.

“Because you have bail, effectively you are sitting behind a queue of people in prison who are waiting to be tried.”

Partey was granted bail on the same conditions that he was given at a previous hearing: he cannot contact any of the three women and must notify police of any permanent changes of address or international travel.

His court appearance came a day after he played in Spanish side Villarreal’s 1-0 Champions League defeat to Tottenham in London.

The midfielder joined Arsenal from Atletico Madrid in 2020 in a deal worth around £45 million ($61 million).

He appeared 52 times for the Gunners last season, scoring four goals. Overall, he played 167 games for the club, scoring nine times, and has also made more than 50 appearances for Ghana.

Partey joined Villarreal last month.

An Arsenal spokesperson previously said: “The player’s contract ended on June 30. Due to ongoing legal proceedings, the club is unable to comment on the case.”

AFP