By Bhargav Acharya and Divya Rajagopal
TORONTO, June 16 (Reuters) – A day before Ghana’s World Cup Group L game against Panama in Canada, the West African country is making headlines over the visa status of its top player Thomas Partey.
The Canadian government last week refused a visa for Partey, 33, to enter the country, which led to his lawyers launching a “precedent-setting” appeal to the Federal Court in Ottawa. A verdict is expected later on Tuesday.
“We trust the Canadian judicial system… and remain positive for the outcome,” Mackeda Bramwell, a lawyer representing the Ghanaian midfielder, told Reuters.
If the court rules in favour of Partey, the decision would fall on Canadian immigration authorities to reconsider his visa status. Bramwell said Partey would not appeal if the judge ruled against him.
The former Arsenal midfielder faces allegations of rape and sexual assault in Britain. He has denied the charges.
The U.S. government has granted Partey a visa, but Canada’s immigration officials said that under Canadian law, foreign nationals can be found inadmissible without a foreign conviction.
“When there are reasonable grounds to believe an act that would trigger inadmissibility has been committed by an applicant, they can be deemed inadmissible to Canada,” a spokesperson for Canada’s Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada told Reuters.
In Ghana and across Canada’s Ghanaian diaspora, Partey’s visa refusal has led to anger and frustration among the fans.
Speaking to Reuters on Monday, Akua Mensah, 45, a Canadian with Ghanaian roots, said the decision by the Canadian government was unfortunate.
(Divya Rajagopal in Toronto, editing by Ed Osmond)
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