Most of England’s players followed FIFA protocol and greeted rape charge Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey ahead of kick-off – although it appeared that Djed Spence refused to do so.
As Daily Mail Sport reported, no talks were held within the Three Lions’ camp over whether shake the hand of the former Arsenal man ahead of the fixture, with bosses preferring to concentrate purely on football.
While FIFA-controlled camera crews failed to capture the moment, most of Thomas Tuchel’s men either shook hands of bumped fists with the 33-year-old, who denies seven counts of rape and one of sexual assault, bar Tottenham’s Spence, who is the first Muslim to play for England.
Former Arsenal midfielder Partey started the game having missed his country’s opener in Toronto when he was denied a visa to enter Canada.
He is due to face the 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.
Thomas Partey made his World Cup bow against England in Boston on Tuesday evening
The former Arsenal star said in that build-up that he would be ‘really happy’ to see his former Arsenal team-mates Bukayo Saka (second left) and Declan Rice (centre) again
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.
Meanwhile, fans watching the game on TV took to social media to express their bemusement that the world feed of the match hadn’t shown the pre-match handshakes.
One said: ‘Haha did they deliberately cut away from the Partey handshake’.
Another added: ‘The camera man bottled showing the England players shake 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.’
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 Villareal, in Spain.
MORE TO FOLLOW
