Thomas Partey, the former Arsenal footballer, has been charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, the Crown Prosecution Service has announced.
The bombshell case leaves the Premier League club facing intense criticism for continuing to play him for almost three years in full knowledge of an investigation.
Telegraph Sport had exclusively revealed in July 2022 how a Premier League international had been arrested, but only now can his name be published.
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Partey, 32, was one of the club’s top earners and a key figure in three consecutive title challenges and last season’s run to the Champions League semi-final
Three allegations relate to three separate women who reported incidents which took place between 2021 and 2022.
The Ghanaian, whose Arsenal contract expired on Monday, June 30, will now appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Tuesday, August 5 2025.
Jaswant Narwal, of the CPS, said: “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.
“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.”
Despite being out of contract, Partey was still listed as an Arsenal player on the club’s website after the news of the charges broke on Friday afternoon, and replica shirts with his name on the back were still available to purchase.
Campaigners are dismayed by Arsenal’s failure to drop Partey while knowing he was under investigation. They point out in most industries professionals would be automatically suspended as soon as their employer learnt of serious criminal allegations.
Partey, however, played 53 games last season alone for Arsenal, and racked up an additional 56 club appearances over the previous two seasons while on bail. He played three games at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Abuse from fans has followed him at stadiums throughout his time on bail, however, with his arrest becoming common knowledge despite media refraining from identifying him.
At most Arsenal home matches this season, campaigners have gathered to voice their displeasure at the club continuing to play the midfielder.
Lawyers also share the belief that Arsenal should have stood down Partey from duties when it became clear a serious and significant investigation was taking place.
As Partey was charged, Dino Nocivelli, a Leigh Day partner who has worked on several high-profile abuse cases in sport, told Telegraph Sport: “I think the fact that the defendant in these cases has been able to continue his working life is wrong and clearly sends the wrong message for such serious allegations as rape and sexual assault.
“The player should have been suspended while his football club and the Football Association investigated the allegations, with no prospect of resuming his work until the investigations were concluded.”
Football’s responses to rape allegations against players have varied over the years. Manchester United suspended Mason Greenwood immediately on full pay after he was arrested in January 2022 following allegations surrounding material which was published online. Charges against the former England international including attempted rape and assault were dropped on February 2, 2023.
Former Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy, who was charged with rape and sexual assault in August 2021, was suspended without pay from then until he left the club in June 2023. After being cleared of charges, however, Mendy last year won an employment tribunal claim that he was entitled to “the majority of his unpaid salary” from City.
Anger over Partey continuing to play had been compounded by the club entering contract extension talks in the weeks prior to him being charged. It had until then been widely expected that the club would not seek to extend his deal, which expired this summer. That contract expired on June 30, and Arsenal are in talks to sign Christian Norgaard from Brentford as his replacement.
The Telegraph contacted Arsenal on the day of his first arrest in 2022, but the club has declined to comment throughout. Behind the scenes, the club, the Football Association and Premier League are now all facing serious questions, however.
The FA is said to have received a complaint about the player in 2022 but found Partey did not pose “a risk of harm to children or adults at risk in football”.
Last year, almost 9,000 fans signed a letter calling for Arsenal to drop the midfielder amid demands for new blanket rules on footballers accused of rape.
The Arsenal Supporters Against Sexual Violence group wrote: “While we recognise that all individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty, we would find any scenario in which a club was to continually select and promote a player under investigation for sexual offences deeply concerning. This would give the suggestion that success on the pitch far outweighs respect for victims of sexual violence.”
‘No directive from the FA
Honour Barber, an Arsenal supporter and one of the founding members of the protest group, told Telegraph Sport she was “finding it increasingly difficult to support the team that I love”. “I was in the stadium having to listen to opposition fans singing about this case, and I just never hear any opposition from Arsenal fans ourselves,” she said.
“As Arsenal fans, I really wanted for us to be saying something about it, because it shouldn’t be that it’s just used as a rivalry thing like other aspects of football. This is so much more serious than that.”
Barber has been flanked by dozens of fellow protesters at the Emirates for most matches. “We’ve had so many good conversations with fans,” she added. “There’s a lot of fans who are really outraged about this but don’t really know what to do next. It’s not really just about Thomas Partey. We know seven out of 20 Premier League clubs have had a player investigated for sexual violence. Footballers get suspended for turning up late for training.
“The fact that we’re in this situation where he’s been investigated for years on multiple counts of rape, and is still playing week in, week out, is very hard to see.”
The aim of the group is to see new mandatory rules enforced on clubs when players face police investigation. “The reason why Premier League clubs can have these vastly different approaches amongst them is because there is no directive from the FA,” she added. “Individual clubs just pass the buck between them. They just say, ‘Oh, we haven’t received guidance’. Then the Premier League say, ‘Oh no, it’s up to the FA’. Then the FA say, ‘No, it’s up to the clubs’.”
Both the league and the FA have been asked for comment.