The English Football Association is reportedly carefully weighing how its players should handle the traditional pre-match handshake ritual ahead of England’s World Cup group stage match against Ghana. The situation centres on Ghanaian midfielder Thomas Partey, who remains a key part of his national team’s squad despite facing serious criminal charges in the United Kingdom.
Partey is currently awaiting trial on multiple counts of rape and sexual assault. The allegations involve seven counts of rape and one count of sexual assault relating to four different women, with the incidents said to have taken place between 2020 and 2022.
He has consistently and strongly denied all charges, pleading not guilty at every stage. His trial, which was originally expected towards the end of 2026, has been delayed and is now scheduled to begin in mid-2027 at Southwark Crown Court in London. Until a verdict is reached, the legal process continues to unfold over many months.
This has placed the FA in a difficult position. Football authorities must balance respect for the fundamental legal principle of presumption of innocence with the understandable sensitivities surrounding allegations of this gravity. England players, some of whom played alongside Partey during his time at Arsenal, including Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka, face a particularly personal dilemma.
While pre-match handshakes are a long-established custom of sportsmanship in international football, they are not strictly compulsory under FIFA regulations. The FA is therefore exploring guidance for the squad on how to approach the moment—whether to follow the usual routine, offer only minimal or selective acknowledgments, or take a different collective stance—without turning the fixture into an even greater off-field controversy.
On the Ghanaian side, coach Carlos Queiroz has robustly defended his decision to select Partey, who also serves as vice-captain. The experienced Portuguese manager has insisted that the player is entitled to the presumption of innocence until a court decides otherwise.
Queiroz has argued that football should focus on what happens on the pitch and that judging someone before the full legal process concludes sets a dangerous precedent. He has described the midfielder as an important figure for the Black Stars and has continued to field him in recent matches and qualifiers.
The fixture itself, scheduled for June 23 in Boston as part of a group also containing Croatia and Panama, is likely to attract intense global scrutiny. Public opinion remains sharply divided.
Some voices call for England players to skip the handshake entirely as a mark of solidarity with those affected by serious sexual offences and to avoid any perception of normalising the situation.
Others maintain that deviating from standard protocol risks prejudging the case and undermining the principles of fair play and due process. Similar debates have arisen in football before, but the profile of a World Cup match amplifies the stakes considerably.
Ghana would play England on June 23, 2026 at the Boston Stadium in their second game of group L.