Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, Deputy Ranking Member on Parliament\u2019s Foreign Affairs Committee and MP for Bosome Freho, has criticised the handling of Thomas Partey\u2019s travel arrangements, saying the government should have anticipated the circumstances that led to the midfielder\u2019s reported inability to enter Canada for a crucial international fixture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thomas Partey is expected to miss Ghana\u2019s Group L clash against Panama in Toronto on June 17 after Canadian authorities rejected his visa application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government formally protested Canada\u2019s decision to deny a temporary residence visa to Black Stars\u2019 deputy captain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking on Channel One Newsroom on Saturday, June 13, 2026, Asafo-Adjei Ayeh said government officials and football authorities should have foreseen potential complications surrounding the player\u2019s travel and taken steps to prevent the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, it is so disappointing to hear the Canadian authorities take such an action,\u201d he said. \u201cThis action will go a very long way to deprive Ghana of some successes we want to make in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lawmaker said the issue was particularly frustrating because Thomas Partey\u2019s circumstances were already well known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs a country, we should have anticipated something like this,\u201d he said. \u201cOne of our star players has had issues with the UK, from an international issue being dragged all over, and this very important player in our team has been selected to play.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While stopping short of accusing officials of negligence, Asafo-Adjei Ayeh said authorities failed to take adequate precautions despite warning signs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI would not use the word negligent, but I would use the word they should have anticipated that you have a player in your state who has had some international issues, court charges, and all of that,\u201d he said. \u201cYou need him in your team, and you must make sure that this player is protected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The MP argued that Ghana\u2019s diplomatic machinery should have played a more proactive role in ensuring all requirements were met before the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe job of the Minister of Foreign Affairs is also to ensure that all our players have what it takes to be in the country,\u201d he said. \u201cParticularly when the protest notice was given, it should have alerted authorities that extra care was needed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said Ghana\u2019s diplomatic missions routinely assist national teams participating in international competitions and suggested similar efforts should have been deployed in Partey\u2019s case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor you to come and tell us that you\u2019re going to pursue this diplomatically, this is what we already know,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat will be disappointing to everybody is if we fail as a country to use the diplomatic ties we have to get Thomas Partey to Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FIFA, in its response, said Partey\u2019s inability to travel to Canada stems entirely from immigration decisions made by the host country, a matter that falls outside the governing body\u2019s authority and control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the setback, Asafo-Adjei Ayeh urged authorities to continue engaging Canadian officials in an effort to secure the midfielder\u2019s entry before the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have other tools and other things to use,\u201d he said. \u201cWe should do everything we can to ensure that he gets to where he is supposed to get to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Partey\u2019s absence would be a significant blow for Ghana as the Black Stars prepare for a key group-stage encounter against Panama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh, Deputy Ranking Member on Parliament\u2019s Foreign Affairs Committee and MP for Bosome Freho, has criticised the handling of Thomas Partey\u2019s travel arrangements, saying the government should have anticipated the circumstances that led to the midfielder\u2019s reported inability to enter Canada for a crucial international fixture. Thomas Partey is expected to miss Ghana\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":39229,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_post_source_name":"","_post_source_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[43,1,6409],"tags":[13276,6573,1953,11017,7960,9194,10507,12246,11240,5500,5247,192,2264,12234,6094,10954,8126,1165,1698,278,13275,12805,6045,1198,12925,13256,5561,1567,5969,6584,12605,6348,5647,7545,36,594],"class_list":["post-49772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","category-sports","tag-alleged-rape","tag-black","tag-canada","tag-canadian","tag-case","tag-charges","tag-court","tag-diplomatic","tag-diplomatic-ties","tag-fifa","tag-football","tag-ghana","tag-government","tag-host","tag-immigration","tag-international","tag-match","tag-minister-of-foreign-affairs","tag-miss-ghana","tag-mp","tag-nana-asafo-adjei-ayeh","tag-negligence","tag-panama","tag-parliament","tag-partey","tag-players","tag-protest","tag-thomas-partey","tag-toronto","tag-travel","tag-uk","tag-us","tag-visa","tag-visa-refusal","tag-world","tag-who"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49772"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49773,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49772\/revisions\/49773"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}