Arsenal FC and Thomas Partey saw their contractual partnership terminate on Monday. The Ghanian midfielder joined the club in 2020, scoring nine goals in 130 appearances.
Friday saw the Metropolitan Police Service release a public statement announcing the very serious criminal charges levied against Partey.
BREAKING: Former Arsenal football player Thomas Partey has been charged with five counts of rape.
The 32-year-old, of Hertfordshire, has also been charged with one count of sexual assault.https://t.co/Paz5OQnRj3
📺 Sky 501 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/2gnFHTChbI
— Sky News (@SkyNews) July 4, 2025
The 32-year-old football free agent is facing five charges of rape and one sexual assault charge. He will almost certainly remain a free agent until long after this situation reaches conclusion.
“The Crown Prosecution Service has today authorised the prosecution of Thomas Partey for multiple counts of rape — after carefully reviewing a comprehensive file of evidence,” reads the statement attributed to Jaswant Narwal, the chief crown prosecutor for CPS London north.
“Our prosecutors have worked closely with officers in the Metropolitan Police who have carried out the investigation, to review the evidence and advise on the appropriate charges.
“We remind everyone that criminal proceedings are active, and the defendant has the right to a fair trial.
“We know there will be significant public interest in this announcement, but it is absolutely vital that there is no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.”
Partey, who made 35 appearances in the league this past season, denies all the charges.
These criminal charges stem from incidents that date as far back as 2021. Since at least 2022, there have been rumors of Partey rape accusations all over social media.
Of course, no credible and/or legitimate news outlet published these accusations until today.
While there are no standards at all for what gets posted on Twitter/X, news outlets can only report on actual criminal charges, and only when they have been officially brought forth.
Still, this is a situation that Arsenal was clearly aware of, and they continued to allow Partey to play.
There was even speculation that they might consider extending him, despite strong interest from the Saudi Pro League last summer.
Now we obviously cannot say who knew what and when, but Arsenal Football Club has a lot of explaining to do. And at the very least, they should release a public statement of some sort.
Because they clearly knew this day was coming, and should have had something prepared. (Almost certainly, it would use the pitch corner flag as the image for the post, because that’s just what football clubs do when they release commentary on serious or bad news)
Wishing all our American supporters a special day 🤝 pic.twitter.com/wCITMWRjlZ
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) July 4, 2025
Directly above you’ll see the club’s most recent posting.
As an American, okay, thank you, I appreciate the Independence Day/Fourth of July greetings, but your club needs to address a topic that is much more serious, and vastly more important today.
There is currently a massive backlash against Arsenal Football Club due to their staying silent on the Thomas Partey situation.
Partey is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on August 5th.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter