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Claim: Some social media users claimed that Thomas Partey has been cleared to enter Canada for Ghana’s first World Cup match.
Verdict: FALSE! No official records from the Federal Court of Canada, Ottawa database, confirm such a decision. Ghana’s foreign affairs ministry has not confirmed that he will join the national team for Wednesday’s match, whilst the Ghana Football Association has also not issued any communication concerning this development.
Full Text
On June 16, 2026, an X user, The State News, claimed in a post that Thomas Partey, a Ghanaian footballer, had been granted a Canadian visa ahead of the FIFA World Cup clash against Panama.
As of June 17, 2026, the post (archived here) had garnered over 365,200 views, 11,000 likes and over 100 comments.
Similarly, a Facebook page, “The BBC Ghana,” with over 610,000 followers, shared similar commentary saying, “Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey has been granted a visa to enter Canada after an Ottawa court overturned an earlier decision that denied him entry ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.” The post has over 15,000 likes, 700 comments and 170 reshares, as of June 17, 2026. After DUBAWA archived the initial post, we discovered that the platform had made a few changes to the post.
The news spread across various social media platforms in Ghana. Other social media users who shared the claim include UTV GHANA (archived here), SOMPA FM (archived here) and others.
An X user, Adu Sarpeah @Adu Sarpeah, reacting to the post, said, “I’ll advise Partey not to play this Panama game. He’s not emotionally fit.”
Another user, Utd Mayor, @utd_mayor_, also said: “Now the team [is] all set but still… If we lose, all the blame goes to Baba Rahman. If we win, we thank the [coach] for trying.”
The claim’s virality and its potential to mislead Ghanaian supporters prompted DUBAWA to conduct a fact-check.
Background
Mr Thomas, currently playing at club level for the Spanish side, Villareal, was set to miss his first 2026 World Cup game in Toronto against Panama on June 17, 2026, after being denied entry to Canada.
The visa issues relate to his ongoing criminal proceedings in the UK involving seven charges of rape and one count of sexual assault between 2020 and 2022, for which he has pleaded not guilty.
The Ghanaian government labelled the decision as “high-handed and extremely unfair.”
Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, addressing the media, said the country is also exploring diplomatic means to secure a Canadian visa for the former Arsenal player (archived here).
Ghana filed for review of Canada’s refusal to grant Thomas a visa, with the case to be heard in the Federal Court of Canada in Ottawa on June 16, 2026.
It was during the period of review that the claim went viral across various social media platforms.
Verification
DUBAWA observed that there has been no official communication from the Foreign Affairs Ministry or the Ghana Football Association confirming Thomas’ situation.
Additionally, the media relations officer at the Foreign Affairs ministry, Fred Duhoe, in a Facebook post said,
“There has been no formal communication or update regarding Thomas Partey yet. Any information concerning his case will be made public when it becomes available.”
Mac-Jordan Elikem Degadjor, a journalist covering the court proceedings, confirmed that the court has not yet issued a decision (archived here) as of June 17, 2026.
He cautioned that, “Any social media post claiming that Partey has won, lost, been granted a visa, or cleared to enter Canada is premature and should be treated with caution until the Court releases its official decision”.
According to reports, Justice Lafrenière reserved his decision after hearing arguments from Thomas Partey’s legal team and Canada’s Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.
Federal court decisions are published on the judicial website once released.
But a search of the Federal Court Decisions database here shows that no decision had been made concerning Thomas Partey at the time of the speculation.
This implies that until an official document is shared on the website, any claims about Thomas Partey being granted or denied a Canadian visa are premature and likely false.
However, The Athletic Football has reported that the appeal to overturn Thomas Partey’s ban from entering Canada has been dismissed, and he will play no part in Ghana’s 2026 World Cup opener on Wednesday.
The same has been reported by credible news outlets, including Sky Sports, CBC, Eurosport, and The Times.
Ghana’s official news organisation, GTV, has also reported the dismissal.
Conclusion
The news that the Canadian government granted Thomas Partey a visa is False. Multiple court reports by credible news sources have confirmed that no visa was granted in court. There are also no official statements from Ghana’s Sports authorities or the Foreign Affairs ministry confirming the speculations.
This report was produced under the 2026 Kwame Karikari Fact-checking and OSINT Fellowship, co-hosted by DUBAWA and the Digital Technology, Artificial Intelligence, and Information Disorder Analysis Centre (DAIDAC), with support from the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID).
