Thomas Partey | 12th February 2026: Charged with two new counts of rape

JB7 said:
Everyone has known about this for years, he's been getting called a rapist at every ground in the country for ages - Arsenal haven't got their head that far in the sand.
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I think he is referring to Arsenal knowing he would be charged today (just after being released).
 
The timing of this is horrendous, it was widely known it was him for years and Arsenal continued to play him, how has this only happened once his contract has expired?
 
SilentWitness said:
Of course they knew.
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But who? This is much bigger than Arteta, this surely must go up to Kroenke. Who else has the political clout to effectively pause an active investigation? Because that is surely what's happened - this has been years and years in the waiting.
 
Ezkay said:
Everyone and their dad has known for 2 years+. I’m certain Arsenal knew what was going on.
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Crimson King said:
I mean, everyone else knew...
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JB7 said:
Everyone has known about this for years, he's been getting called a rapist at every ground in the country for ages - Arsenal haven't got their head that far in the sand.
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I'm talking specifically about him getting charged here, not the actual allegations.
 
Isn't it dodgy that the Police charged him right after his contract with Arsenal expired, when the report took place 4 years ago? It is like the Police intentionally let Arsenal have full use of the rapist
 
I agree that Arsenal should never have stood by him given everyone knew. The bigger outrage is the delayed timing though as there's no way that's a coincidence
 
I didn't realise he'd left Arsenal.

Compare and contrast the media coverage of this, compared to the Greenwood situation.
 
Horrendous timing, they should take some serious flack on this.
 
tomaldinho1 said:
But who? This is much bigger than Arteta, this surely must go up to Kroenke. Who else has the political clout to effectively pause an active investigation? Because that is surely what's happened - this has been years and years in the waiting.
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The charge is a different side and unclear if they did or didn't know but there is no way that anyone in Arsenal was oblivious to the allegations surrounding him. It's been following him on social media and grounds for c. 2 years.
 
miked99 said:
I didn't realise he'd left Arsenal.

Compare and contrast the media coverage of this, compared to the Greenwood situation.
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There's a pretty obvious difference. They weren't allowed to name Partey.
 
Under investigation since 2022
 
Why are the charges only brought now? It was widely known about for a very long time.
 
There’s no way Arsenal were in the dark about this, they would have known a player is helping with an investigation but they have turned a blind eye to it.
 
I'm not here to defend Arsenal by the way before anyone thinks it, and I'm certainly not here to defend Partey. Id certainly like an explanation to Arsenals point of view here, how much of an investigation did they do into allegations, was their stance basically innocent until charged / proven guilty, etc.

I'm just saying that they were in active discussions with Partey about extending his contract only 2 weeks ago, so there's no way Arsenal do that if they had any prior knowledge that this was coming their way. As was said above, not even Arsenal are that dim.
 
Despite the fact everyone seemed aware that he was under investigation, I think Arsenal were in a pretty difficult position as he hadn't been named. Freezing him out would have given weight to the rumours and potentially prejudiced any investigation. It's not like the Greenwood case where his name was out there immediately and therefore United could suspend him pending the investigation.

Regardless, the way his fellow players and his manager have remained as friendly and, for want of a better word, affectionate towards Partey over the last couple of season absolutely reeks and I hope they are absolutely pilloried for it.

Edit: If it's true that Arsenal tried to extend his contract then they absolutely deserve all shit coming their way.
 
SilentWitness said:
The charge is a different side and unclear if they did or didn't know but there is no way that anyone in Arsenal was oblivious to the allegations surrounding him. It's been following him on social media and grounds for c. 2 years.
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100%, there's two issues though. You are talking about the club continuing to play someone who it appears is highly likely to be found guilty whereas, for example, we were pressured/advised to drop Antony and Greenwood. That is shocking but not, sadly, unexpected given they would obviously just say we believe in the UK justice system, innocent until proven guilt etc.
The bigger issue is why the charges seem to have effectively been on ice until he loses his affiliation with Arsenal, that's a different and far more worrying thing entirely.
 
Well well well. Worst kept secret in football. It's not a good look for the club as it is but God help them if he's found guilty.
 


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 learns of serious criminal allegations. Partey, however, played 52 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.”
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Surprised the Arsenal womens team didn't kick off more like ours did with Greenwood in arguably lesser circumstances
 
tomaldinho1 said:
100%, there's two issues though. You are talking about the club continuing to play someone who it appears is highly likely to be found guilty whereas, for example, we were pressured/advised to drop Antony and Greenwood. That is shocking but not, sadly, unexpected given they would obviously just say we believe in the UK justice system, innocent until proven guilt etc.
The bigger issue is why the charges seem to have effectively been on ice until he loses his affiliation with Arsenal, that's a different and far more worrying thing entirely.
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Most employers would suspend an employee if they found out they were under investigation for something as serious as this yet Arsenal continued to involve him as a key first team player and even tried to sign him up for further employment. It's rank.
 
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.”
Honor 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 explained.
“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’.”
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Arsenal continued to play him and were supposedly still trying to sort out a new with him less than a month ago. Scummy from them.
 
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