Rio Ferdinand hits out at “fake comments” about controversial England-Ghana incident

Rio Ferdinand has hit back at comments being attributed to him about Thomas Partey after Djed Spence appeared to snub him in the pre-match handshake this week.

Spence seemed to avoid shaking hands with Partey before England and Ghana played out a 0-0 draw in their World Cup 2026 Group L clash on Tuesday night.

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This comes amid Partey being charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault back in 2025, relating to incidents which allegedly took place between 2021 and 2022.

Ferdinand has not commented on the incident any further, it would seem, so it’s not clear if these are in any way an accurate representation of what he thinks.

There is seemingly no record of Ferdinand saying this anywhere apart from social media quotes that do not mention an original source.

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Despite the very serious allegations against Partey, he continued to play for Arsenal until leaving the club in summer 2025, and he’s now on the books at La Liga club Villarreal.

What’s the latest on the Thomas Partey case?

Partey is due to have a further trial after previously pleading not guilty to the charges against him, as reported by the BBC.

The report adds that Partey “remains on bail during the legal proceedings, with the condition that he does not contact the alleged victims”.

The Guardian have also reported on how Partey was not allowed into Canada for Ghana’s opening group game, though he did get a VISA to play against England in the US.

Ghana manager Carlos Queiroz has defended selecting the 33-year-old, saying: “Let events run their normal course, let the river flow and one day, when the river meets the ocean, we will find the truth.”