Ghana’s government has described Canada’s decision to deny Thomas Partey a visa for his country’s World Cup game against Panama on Wednesday as “high-handed and extremely unfair”.

Ghana’s foreign ministry said it understood the decision to be based on pending criminal proceedings in Britain. The 32-year-old Partey, a former Arsenal midfielder who plays for Villarreal, faces allegations of rape and sexual assault in Britain. He has denied the charges.

Partey is with the rest of the Ghana squad in Boston and will be eligible to play in their subsequent Group L matches against England in that city and against Croatia in Philadelphia.

Ghana’s foreign ministry said it had dispatched an official note of protest requesting that Canada review its decision.

‘Excessively harsh’

In a statement, the Ghanaian government expressed its “strong reservations” regarding Canada’s decision, which it considers “excessively harsh and deeply unfair”.

Whilst recognizing Canada’s sovereign right to enforce its immigration laws, Accra believes that the use of unproven allegations in the absence of a court ruling raises fundamental questions of fairness and proportionality.

For its part, a spokesperson for the Canadian Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship reiterated on Friday that the organization of major international events did not alter the country’s immigration rules.

He emphasized that each application to enter Canada was examined on a case-by-case basis, in accordance with the available facts and the legislation in force.

FIFA, for its part, stated that it does not intervene in the immigration procedures implemented by host countries.