This is not a good look at all. We seriously need to hold the club accountable. Just poor decision making from Arsenal.
I get that they couldn't bin him straight off because he was under contract, but at the very least there needs to be serious scrutiny on whoever was pushing to extend him.
This. I don’t know why in the hell would you even renew this guy. Very very bad look.
32, high wages, going to AFCON for at least 4-6 matches between December to like end January, could clearly see his legs were going this last season…
There were so many reasons beyond the obvious sexual assault case against him to not extend his contract, yet someone at the club insisted!! It’s fucking insane.
Don't really understand why everyone is acting like it's some rando person that was pushing for this at Arsenal. It would've been Arteta. One of his first signings. He played him the whole time. He publicly said they were working on an extension. He publicly praised the player while this was all going on.
There isnt some seedy guy in a dark room cooking up who is getting extended at the club.
Pretty simple they would give him two years and try to sell in Jan or summer to get money out of him. The owners don't care about him or what he does just the money
But then he could just take those wages for 2 years which would just end up costing Arsenal millions. He ran this contract, why wouldn't he do it again?
There is generally the ability to suspend a player while under investigation. Everton did it with Sigurdsson, we did it with Greenwood. Of course, this is a tricky thing to navigate with footballers as being suspended for months if not years while investigations go on can ruin careers, and sometimes (like Sigurdsson) it may be dropped and the player left in limbo.
As long as the guy gets paid; there’s no requirements on getting actual play time.
Gylfi's case involved children so there's vastly different safeguarding measures in place. Greenwood was immediately named in the press so there are also different protocols in place. From a legal perspective I don't believe Arsenal could've suspended Partey.
However, they absolutely could've dropped him from the match day squad and continued to pay him. Trying to renew his contract is pretty fucking shameful.
Was Greenwood not paid his salary during his suspension?
Greenwood’s voice recordings were public, it’s a completely different scenario
I can't believe the rats fucking signed him
Outcome is still the same.
It's a tricky one to balance I think. Agree.
Something like 5% of reported cases get charged too. Obviously some of these happen and are just due to lack of evidence, but let's not kid ourselves, some of these will be purely false allegations too.
Are we to suspend players for a year whilst being investigated? I think waiting until charging is generally a fine approach. It's a much better cut off than just an investigation, and whilst charging doesn't indicate guilt, it does at least point to more evidence and a higher likelihood of it.
Obviously depends on the accusations, and what information is out there. I think for someone like Greenwood, where the recordings were damning, United did the right thing. But for Partey? I don't know. It's a tricky one to get right, if they suspend him for 2 years (as it feels like that's how long these investigations have taken) and he's not charged? What then? You've just made it harder for your club to perform because someone, potentially innocent, has been accused of a heinous crime. And these things take time. Like, up to two years a quick Google says is pretty common.
I don't know the answer. But I'd be a little concerned if clubs started suspending players under investigation.
Arsenal certainly made an audacious call to continue playing him, however, Greenwood’s and Sigurdsson’s situations aren’t comparable to Partey’s in the least.
I disagree with what Arsenal did, but I also agree that it's an absolute minefield. If he was charged it would have been an easy decision to make.
Even if he was charged, we could have ended up with a Mendy like situation. Also, it says a lot about our justice system that they've only charged him now because he's a flight risk. I don't think there's a lot of confidence in the case they do have. At least we can refer to him by name now, instead of unnamed premiere league player.
You were never required to play him.
He could have been suspended with pay without any charges.
That's not really how UK law works. Suspension is a last resort when it's otherwise not possible to accommodate the employee, and it's supposed to be kept short under the ACAS code, e.g. long enough to investigate and make a decision. Partey would have been suspended for three full seasons without even being charged. That would have killed his career, like we saw with Sigurdsson.
You don’t even have to resort to suspension, just don’t put him in matchday squads or even at the very least, play him. He would have next to no legal recourse against AFC even if this was the case.
Go look up constructive dismissal under UK law, then the FIFA regs for "sporting just cause".
Firing, suspending, or excluding him all net out to adverse action against an employee.
Is it a minefield? Obviously suspending without pay would be, but Arsenal could have basically just decided not to play him whilst still honouring his contract.
Obviously it would stick in the throat to pay him but on a moral level it would be a lot more palatable than playing him every week.
I think one other issue is that as he was only arrested and not charged whilst an Arsenal player, if they suspended him then it would effectively make it public that he was arrested when he does technically have a right to privacy at that stage (hence the, male 32 year old CM who plays in the Premier League and lives in North London statements) and that would give him legal standing to pursue Arsenal over.
In Mendy's case, City refused to pay him when he was charged which was also a breach of contract and why he won his suit to recover the money. City should have paid him anyways and then if he were to have been found guilty they could sue him for the wages. It's a different case but it's what Chelsea did when Mutu was suspended for doing Coke, couldn't do anything until the ban was confirmed then his contract was terminated and he was sued for the salary paid.
In Greenwood's case, the accusations were made public by his partner so you can to some extent react to it and with Sigurdsson his case related to children so there would be a safeguarding issue with youth teams, mascots and everything else (plus he was named in Icelandic media so he was known if not publicly in the UK).
My issue with Arsenal's actions is how publicly they defended him unprompted when it only served to make it more obvious to everyone who knew what was going and then also the pursuit of trying to keep him this summer. They couldn't really do anything but let him train and select him when actually fit.
Don’t have to sack him but also didn’t need to play him either. Club should’ve taken him out from playing and either leave him training away from the team still at the ground until investigation was complete or just straight suspended him.
And yeah trying extending him was ridiculous.
This fact was known about the case for a couple of years but didn't received the appropriate attention since the player couldn't be named.
But the BBC article on it (link below) clearly says the first police report was made in Aug 2021 while Partey was first arrested in July 2022, which was around when the case went public (and the person who made it public was a different woman than the one who filed the case).
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn858080e9xo.amp
There's no excuse for the way Arsenal handled it, absolutely awful to carry on like there was nothing wrong.
You’re right it needs calling out Arteta and board and even teammates were very happy to ignore it and keep playing him on the premise of he may help you win trophies.
On his teammates, I really do wonder in situations like this what they do. It might vary, I guess? Some are more plugged into news and might even go digging themselves when accusations about a teammate surface, and some might just briefly hear/see it mentioned and don't look any further? Do they discuss it with the accused teammate?
I genuinely think it shows a larger problem within football with its attitude towards sexual assault and its victims. Most top end players live in a reality of they always get what they want. I can’t imagine the sort of person I may of been if I was never used to hearing no and not having things go in my favour all the time. I don’t know the thought process behind lots of it but I’d like to think I wouldn’t support or advocate for someone with so many charges against him and it would make me question it more.
Arsenal journalist and podcaster Gunnerblog spoke about this on the Arsecast this week. He was pretty scathing about the attitude around sexual violence in football, and the fact that inside football clubs theres a view that some women are "out to get them". I think the response of Arsenal teammates towards Partey the past few years, and the reaction of the wider football community to Mendy being acquitted encapsulates this.
They fully wanted to keep him as well just partey wouldn’t take the wages they offered
Yeah it’s really not a good look for the club and it’s made me a bit cynical why they have literally been spamming transfer updates and lots of other information around stuff and feeling the need to release the same news multiple times to distract from after not really saying much at all. I mean when asked they even said “he’s not an arsenal, we can’t comment cause of legal stuff” to have the audacity to use “he’s not an arsenal player” after everything is crazy to me and appears more that they care about the optics of it and how they look rather than the actions or the victims.
🤮
Was anyone seriously deluded enough to believe Arsenal weren't fully informed as the situation was going on leading up to charges being filed
Yes, like half of Arsenal fans
It's nice that we can actually have a conversation about this now that he's been charged. Before it was nonstop deflections and whataboutism from Arsenal fans pointing at Bissouma and Ronaldo. Not to mention the "shoddy evidence" merchants who claimed chat logs were unreliable because they could be doctored and claiming there was nothing the club could do while Partey had multiple victims accusing him of rape. Also defending match going fans chanting for Partey because "they don't know about his rape accusations".
There were many of us that were disgusted and took the snapchat leaks for what they were - clear evidence of abuse. I never wanted to see him in the team ever again but his case has of course coincided with our best run of form in almost 20 years. It has made all of our 'success' on the pitch over the past few seasons very bittersweet. I'm disgusted by Mikel's actions, but the worst part is seeing the lads that seem like genuinely good people act like nothing was wrong with being friends with Thomas. I just wish there had been one member of the squad that clearly separated himself from Partey. But as far as I can tell, no player ever took a stand. That is what will eat at me for a long, long time. Makes me wonder how many footballers are decent at all. Can't be many.
Totally get it, and I think it's a reminder that while we idolise the players for what they do on the pitch, we generally don't know a great deal about them as people and we should be careful when holding them up on pedestals as these great people. They're good at kicking a ball on a field. That's where our admiration should generally stop, unless they give us reason to believe otherwise.
Honestly felt disgusted watching him in our shirt the last few years, and the club's resurgence helped me through an extremely tough period in my life after attempting to take my own life a few years ago. So I've felt fucking sick watching the entire situation and how horrid it's made me feel about not only the club i support, but my own fandom and potential hypocrisy with continuing to support the team etc when i have people close to me who have survived cunts like partey.
It's forever damaged my relatinship with my boyhood club and the sport and im somewhat glad we didnt win the league with him because he'd be there in the pictures and celebrations reminding me of my own feeling toward the club and myself. I've done little things like stopping to buy kits/merch/attending games (I've moved abroad so the latter was an easy choice vs others) since it came out, but man it's fucking horrid to see people desperately try to come up with any reason to defend some millionaire's and a corporation showing they clearly do not give a single shit about the situation just because it's our club.
I listened to arseblog, a popular arsenal podcast this week and they were finally able to speak publicly about it and i broke down in tears at one point listening to one of the guys basically reciting my own feelings on the case - it felt somehow cathartic that we could finally call the club what it is, fucking pathetic, no matter who is individually to blame - those women, their families, and all the fans who may have been affected in any way shape or form by cases such as this have been utterly let down over the last few years and as a society we really should strive for better.
Yet here i am, watching arsenal transfer news like a fucking dickhead all the same, so still got a lot of work to do myself too. Hopefully some good can come of this whole thing in terms of reform on how clubs have to manage these cases, but im not hopeful.
Bissouma wasn't even remotely comparable either
Nah, much more infuriating to me as I’ve fought this battle on the subreddit (check my history) is that people really, really fundamentally do not understand the purpose or process of the criminal justice system, the presumption of innocence, or the burden of proof.
The simplistic view is that Arsenal just waits for the courts before acting—that’s an incredibly common view based on a grade-school understanding of the legal principles and institutions that govern our society.
The amount of times people have had to explain to Partey defenders on here that football clubs are not subject to the same rules around the standard of evidence (proof beyond reasonable doubt) as the courts are is fucking insane. They just will not take it in. If they're not repeating platitudes about everyone being innocent until proven guilty they're just gesturing at Arsenal's legal team and exclaiming that they must surely have exhausted all avenues available to them, and have no choice but to keep playing and supporting him!
I had one guy reply to me when I said proof beyond reasonable doubt is relevant only to criminal proceedings with something about it going to an employment tribunal. I didn't even bother explaining that employers who are taken to tribunal are also not required to prove anything beyond a reasonable doubt, only that they acted in accordance with their own processes and procedures. Just pointless even arguing about it. They clearly just don't care about what he did.
My next favorite line of reasoning is that we should definitely not rush to assumptions, because famous men are often targets of false rape accusations. I always ask why that would be the case. They say “duh, money,” of course notwithstanding the fact that you cannot settle a rape claim for money in criminal court.
It's always interesting when you get into a conversation with one of those types and sometimes after enough prodding they just come out with it, admitting they think all women are lying whores, they don't really believe in rape, and they'll be like, hey man, come on, you secretly agree, right? Like no actually I don't mate and it's weird you think everyone else does.
You get the same thing with racists and transphobes and the like. They can't conceive of a world where not everyone is hiding their power level about this shit all the time.
There's a lot of us who have been against this from the start
This is more about the length of time before he was arrested. That means he played for nearly 4 years whilst the club knew about the allegations.
I have said this and got downvoted… not only it was expected, I would expect every pl clubs to have the same contacts.
Faduma Hassan, a member of the Arsenal Supporters Against Sexual Violence, wrote in an article for Telegraph Sport that an “institutional failure goes far beyond my club”. She added: “The Premier League and FA have no clear protocols. Clubs deflect to the FA. The FA deflects back. That’s not a loophole. It is a chasm of accountability.”
This is a very good quote at the end of the article for those who didn't read it.
If clubs won't take action then the FA needs to set out ground rules for this type of stuff so clubs don't have a choice in the matter.
I would also like to see the FA do something about it. If it's clear that clubs will just run ship how they see fit, the FA has to make the call.
Arsenal knew 100% what was going on, but because he offered something on the pitch, they ignored it. Absolutely shameless club.
Ignoring it is one thing. Their manager coming out and sympathizing with him saying “all that he’s been through” and shit like that is fucking insane to me.
Yeah it’s crazy. The managers, players etc are all to blame. Imagine celebrating with someone even if you suspected them of doing something like that. Especially for a team who seem to “value” their women’s team
It's unfortunate to say, but I can bet a decent % of players actually do not care whatsoever. Same when a lad in a friendship group will be welcomed back in when they do something vile.
I don't think it's a decent percentage. I think it's a large majority. And I don't think it changes when they retire and go into coaching.
Man when the reports come out about how Arsenal staff members treated his accuser we're gonna see some real fall out. The chats leaked like a year ago surprised we haven't seen much about it yet.
I feel the same way. The club's actions are always going to dictated by legal processes and self-interest, but Arteta's defence of him felt much more personal. He really stood behind Partey's character and that's inexcusable in my opinion.
Vile
Please don’t misinterpret this as any kind of defence of what went on but that quote has been taken out of context and it keeps happening. The quote was in reference to the injuries he’s been through.
Doesn't the full quote specify "all he's been through and the injuries", implying that he's not speaking about just the injuries
I know it's not what people want to hear, but there are allegations etc. about players at every club, it always gets covered up.
Months before the Greenwood news was released, there was someone here on reddit posting about how he put his girlfriend in hospital multiple times, and everyone in football, football journalism etc. knew about it yet nobody could go public with it for legal reasons. The guy also said there was at the time at least 5 other cases, mentioning Liverpool for one specifically.
Don't idolise footballers, or people in football.
Most level-headed fans agree. I understood when the allegations first came out the club proceeding as normal. As time has gone on there’s been multiple opportunities to move on and end the relationship with Partey. Not to mention that the club attempted to re-sign him. It’s pathetic and disgusting and a failure from the top down that this fuckery went on as long as it did. At any point they could have terminated his contract or froze him out. The club elected not to because he was helping win football matches. It’ll take a long time for the club to repair their reputation and relationship amongst supporters.
Yeah, it's like the first time that I have absolutely nothing to say in defense of one of my favorite clubs that I've followed since I was a kid in the 90s.
Like, I understand that football is a results oriented business so sometimes you have to be ruthless and make hard choices even if they're unpopular, but this is so far beyond the line, and the fact that they not only didn't distance themselves from him and his actions, but even want to extend with him until now is indefensible in my opinion.
We're not talking about speeding here or something like that, but several accusations of rape. And they're credible enough for the legal system to take seriously, so I'd expect any employer to do the same. Especially one that has as much influence over the values of young people as a major football club.
The girl posted screenshots of her conversations with the safeguarding with names exposed. This isn’t exactly news but nonetheless pathetic from the club
He was out on bail 7 times. Of-course, Arsenal knew everything.
They just chose to sweep it under the carpet
Of course they knew, especially as every club in the Premier League has their own security teams whose remit would include investigating this when the initial allegations happened two years ago.
We need to keep pressure up on the club. I want this raised in every AGM, press conference, pre and post-match press too. They have to address this fully and not be allowed to bullshit their way through.
The standard response will be 'This is an ongoing legal situation and we can't comment', but that can only be given for so long - and hopefully it's pointed out that it was an ongoing legal situation when Arsenal were still playing him after he was arrested too.
The standard response will be 'This is an ongoing legal situation and we can't comment', but that can only be given for so long
Well yes, Arsenal are legally required to give that response until any potential trial is over lest it influence potential jurors. This is basic UK law.
Why?
What's illegal about asking "You knew the player was accused and kept playing him, care to explain why you did that or denied that you did knew"?
Or, "Mikel, you have said that Thomas Partey deserved success after "everything he's been through", do you by that mean, the fact he is accused of rape? If not, can you elaborate what else he's beem through?"
Wanna see the press sec trying to shush it - the journos won't have the balls though.
What's illegal about asking "You knew the player was accused and kept playing him, care to explain why you did that or denied that you did knew"?
Because like I said already. Any answer could potentially influence the jury. The only correct answer in this situation is "I can't comment". Ask any UK Lawyer and they will tell you the same.
"Mikel, you have said that Thomas Partey deserved success after "everything he's been through", do you by that mean, the fact he is accused of rape? If not, can you elaborate what else he's beem through?"
Same answer as above. There's nothing illegal for a journalist to ask the question, but there's only one answer that anyone from Arsenal can give until the any potential trial is over. I should also point out that you've also taken that quote completely out of context.
And to be clear, this was in 2021 before some of the offences he's now been charged with allegedly took place. He was then arrested 3 years ago, and never suspended by Arsenal.
Greenwood was suspended by United immediately after being arrested and remained suspended even after charges were dropped. Sigurdsson was suspended by Everton during the investigation and before being charged.
There is no excuse for Arsenal not suspending him with pay when it became clear how serious the allegations were. There were screenshots shared publicly that did not paint him in a good light, and Arsenal may well have seen further evidence.
Greenwood was suspended by United immediately after being arrested and remained suspended even after charges were dropped
Arsenal's handling of the situation has been shameful, but let's not use United's terrible handling of the Greenwood situation as a benchmark for this.
Christ, I remember United tried to get the opinion of the women's team which is just baffling.
But at least, ultimately, United did the right thing, even though they tried their best to fuck it up every step of the way.
Yeah, I posted this in another comment, but it's worse than even that.
They consulted with the women's team and were set to ignore concerns voiced, spoke to other staff members and were set to ignore their concerns, had lists of groups that would be opposed to reintegration that consisted of domestic abuse charities, and probably more that I'm forgetting.
It was only after Adam Crafton's brilliant journalism exposing this and drawing national attention to it, as well as United's sponsors attention to it, that United actually re-considered. If not for Crafton, Greenwood would almost certainly have played for United again.
That was after hearing the awful audio recording that most of us on here have probably heard at this point of him raping his girlfriend.
I completely agree that Arsenal should have handled this situation better, but it bothers me that people are using the Greenwood situation as some sort of measure for how to handle these situations, when that was handled terribly in its own right.
It was only after Adam Crafton's brilliant journalism exposing this and drawing national attention to it, as well as United's sponsors attention to it, that United actually re-considered.
Crafton is ManU legend, they need to build him a statue outside the Old Trafford.
Terrible? We all saw proof of his abuse.
That's my point. The United manager at the time, as well as the executives, tried to reintegrate him despite having heard that audio and their actions in attempting to reintegrate him were shameful.
Oh my bad lol I thought you were saying they shouldn't have suspended him. But now I remember when staff had to come out to media and leak how club is trying to bring him back
That just further proves my point, even as bad as United were they at least did the right thing initially. That was more to counter a lot of people who seem to believe you can't suspend employees, even though that's actually standard in the UK for employees facing serious allegations.
All the comments in these threads are just about cheap pointscoring at this point. No concerns about the victims or how things should be changed going forward, just “fuck Arsenal”.
Is that a surprise? The amount of absolutely bottom of the barrel 'jokes' being spouted in every thread remotely related to Partey or Arsenal was a pretty clear indicator of people's attitude towards sexual violence
Terrible? He was immediately suspended.
Only once all charges were dropped were things regarding his future reconsidered. Yeah, certain board members thinking he should stay was a disgrace, but it isn’t comparable at all because, from a totally ‘police involvement/investigation’ standpoint, there was nothing going on anymore, he was a free man.
United definitely made the right call initially but they were rightly criticised in my opinion for their efforts to return him to the squad after the charges were dropped. Everyone heard the recordings. He had no future at Old Trafford.
United were fully intending on bringing him back into the squad even after having heard the fucking audio of him raping his girlfriend.
They consulted with your women's team and were set to ignore concerns voiced, spoke to other staff members and were set to ignore their concerns, had lists of groups that would be opposed to reintegration that consisted of domestic abuse charities, and probably more that I'm forgetting.
It was only after Adam Crafton's brilliant journalism exposing this and drawing national attention to it, as well as your sponsors attention to it, that United actually re-considered. If not for Crafton, Greenwood would almost certainly have played for United again.
United handled the situation terribly and had their hand forced into ultimately making the right decision.
That public 'We're going to consult the woman's team' thing was some the nastiest, stomach turning shit a club has pulled. Cynically using the woman's side to launder their rapist by putting them in a position of immense pressure where they can be seen to forgive an unrepentant rapist or they can be held responsible by all the miserable fans who think he should have been kept at the club.
United fans should be applauded for how they made their voice heard regarding him. We did fokin nuttin at our club
For anyone who follows NFL, the same reason Ray Rice did - it was on video.
Greenwood was suspended because there was a video everyone saw that incriminated him why does everyone keep making that comparison what about all the other players who were accused, investigated and kept playing?
Fuck Arsenal
Genuinely insane how things like these can be so easily swept under the rug, especially when money is involved. The career of a rapist and the cash the club paid for said rapist is apparently more important then the victims
That's how it is in football and in all of sport.
To put the quote in European football terms if Hannibal Lecter was a 5 star dribbler with insane pace clubs would probably diagnose him with an eating disorder
Everton suspended Gylfi Sigurdsson immediately that the allegations came to light. He was their record signing.
It doesn't have to be handled the way it was by arsenal. They made a choice.
Edit: grammar.
And city suspended Mendy and he won millions in unpaid wages when he sued the club for it because he wasn’t found guilty. Sigurðsson could have done the same but chose not to, for some reason.
I don’t doubt Arsenal was happy with Partey playing and that’s disgusting as he played well but don’t they open themselves up to a lawsuit if Partey isn’t found guilty? And considering how hard it actually is to convict rapists that’s a likely outcome.
*suspended on full pay
Money is not the issue here; if it is then you're on the wrong side of the moral argument.
Defending a lawsuit for suspending a suspected rapist? I don't think that's a problem. The reputational damage is potentially far worse than a suit for lost income or lost opportunity if he couldn't play for the national team and that's about all he could sue for if he was on full pay.
Suspension with pay is the UK standard by an employer whilst youre being investigated for anything.
Mendy was able to take City to court because they stopped paying him.
Everton did the right thing and quietly suspended Sigurdsson with full pay, hence he had no avenue to sue the club. Everton deserve a lot of praise for how they handled that, they showed morals and ethics to such a serious allegation.
Something Arsenal fans should be demanding their board/senior staff (including Arteta) take note of as the appropriate behaviour.
Mendy was charged (which Partey now has been) but City had no standing for failing to pay his wages. Sigurdsson's case involved a child so there's very likely to be safeguarding concerns given you have youth teams involved with training and mascots at the ground.
"It's really hard for him and we want to support and help him in every way we can"
I mean, that's how it is in life.. The rich almost always get away with anything. I mean, the only 2 people out of the Epstein Island situation who even have even been punished were Epstein and Maxwell. Everyone else is currently off scot-free, enjoying their lives.
"An adventurous palate"
I agree. But the fact that not a SINGLE member of the squad or coaching staff said or did anything in protest makes me worried that this could have happened at any club. Not defending Arsenal at all, but this problem permeates the entire sport, it goes much deeper than one organization.
I think saying that the same thing would have happened at any other club is defending Arsenal just a bit.
The fact not a SINGLE member of the squad or coaching staff said or did anything in protest would make me worried about the internal culture at Arsenal more than it hypothetically happening at other clubs.
I get that people blame Arsenal. But think the police are real problem. The length of the investigation before arrest was years. They only arrested him when out of contract and he maybe could contract abroad. Should Arsenal have stopped playing him sooner yes. But if the police hasn't pressed charges, I personally think it's reasonable to give him the benefit of the doubt. Also remember he is not declared guilty yet. I know reddit have declared him guilty of years but it is not the same as a court.
Edit. I would also really like to know what new evidence that made the police charge him now and not 1½ year ago.
I don’t think it’s that they got new evidence, it’s that they realized he could be leaving the country soon and needed to file charges based on the case they had or risk never having him be extradited back.
If Partey attacked women after Arsenal learned of, and dismissed, revelations about his behaviour, that's really grim.
That seems to be what this suggests. He probably felt invincible after the club found out and did nothing.
Yeah fuck this, I'm 42 and been a supporter since I was a kid. This is disgusting
Whilst Arteta talked about how happy he was for Partey given everything he's been through and wanted to renew his contract back in as little as May
Great character too, makes people laugh
Auba stripped of captaincy late to training, probably more than just that I know, but that was the reason in the end. To defend the interests at the club.
But you can keep Partey around because his attitude is great I suppose.
I don't know how it should've been handled, won't pretend to, doesn't mean I am unable to dislike how it was actually handled though.
So many things throughout the hierarchy of the club have absolutely failed.
Can’t take safeguarding serious unless there’s real change there.
There was no reason not to suspend him other than greed.
I'm so proud of our women's team and the general approach to women's football throughout the club - we've really led on and off the pitch for years in these areas.. fucking penny for some of their thoughts right now, can't imagine how let down some of the women involved with our club - players, employees and fans have felt.
There was no reason not to suspend him other than greed.
Sure there is, deep-rooted misogyny. Wouldn't be surprised if others in power at Arsenal believe that Partey did nothing wrong.
It raises a larger point: how commonplace is this amongst Arsenal, or football as a whole that this is the view
It wouldn't surprise me one bit for it to be pervasive across clubs. I shudder to think how many other incidents have been successfully brushed under the rug and hidden from the public over the years.
I heard Arsenal was a classy club
Fans made more noise trying to get Wenger out than they did the rapist.
AFTV is the perfect example of this scum.
Villify Wenger to no end and yet interview Partey’s fucking lawyer, they make me appreciate Brent and the United Stand (fuck them also)
Did they actually interview his lawyer!?
Yes, the video is now since deleted but there's several screenshots of it online
For all of the grandstanding Robbie does and removing people for things not even half as egregious as interviewing Thomas Partey's fucking lawyer for clicks.. what a fucking prick he is man.
They did what?
Not joking, they interviewed his damn lawyer.
The thumbnail read “He’s coming back stronger. Partey’s lawyer and Stonebwoy”.
Still haven’t even mentioned the incident in a video. One year ago, videos of them laughing and doing his dance. A few months ago, when the situation was clear as day, “I love Partey, we MUST sign him to a new deal.”
Disgusting
It sucks so much. Like at the very least, just don't celebrate the dude if you're one of those "I reserve judgement until after the trial" types.
Personally, I wanted him out as soon as the allegations started. Hate there's so many fans that just immediately think these women are gold diggers.
Oh my. That’s low
the fuck
I would do anything to get AFTV out of our club sphere. They are disgraceful.
AFTV isn’t even watched by real fans. Just rival fans for banter, it’s really not a true reflection on most fans.
Where are all the comments about fans that did protest, write an open letter to Arsenal, turned up ahead of games to voice concerns?
That's why I said AFTV and not normal Arsenal fans, most were not in open support of Partey.
What a lot of Arsenal fans have been doing is making a multitude of excuses and trying to deflect
More outrage over signing Madueke
It’s so disgusting that it’s true man, shame on my club, so much for being classy and supportive of the women’s game and team while paying top dollar to a rapist. I guess my club is only classy and diverse when it’s profitable.
Visit Rwanda and Fly Emirates innit
As classy as the FA & PL
I hope nobody ever lets Arsenal live this down.
Genuinely shameful behaviour.
I hope nobody ever lets Arsenal live this down.
They will, people already forget about Sunderland and their insane backing of Adam Johnson.
Oh I won't
And they still tried to offer him a new contract
Arsenal always handled this poorly...
But I'm also unsure how it should've been handled. I would assume that since they couldn't officially name the suspect, Arsenal suspending Partey or whatever they would've called it would've given him some leverage in a lawsuit, no?
I'm wildly unfamiliar in this territory, but I always felt like this had to play a part.
I wish the board above Arteta should've been the ones to handle this.
Edit: I suppose paid suspension? But they'd still have to say why.
Edit 2: Any attempt to work on a new contract with him was fucking diabolical decision making.
Don’t see what would’ve prevented the official line being “this is an internal matter” as originally was the case with Aubameyang.
there is no version of events that can exonerate the Club, key leaders & decision makers.
i just hope the way we have handled this situation is used as a blueprint of what not to be done; in the unfortunate scenario of this situation repeating any other Club / sporting institution.
there is no version of events that can exonerate the Club,
They will be if he's found not guilty.
Lol people talk so much shit to get internet points that it clouds their judgment.
[deleted]
Personally, I don't think you should suspend a player until charges are brought. If you feel differently, that's fine.
I think we can both agree that this wouldn't have been nearly as bad if the police hadn't taken so long to decide they were actually going to charge him.
City only suspended Mendy after he was charged, so nothing different from Arsenal. The equivalent would be Arsenal suspending Partey now, but they can't since he's not their player anymore
What the morons at Arsenal should've done is sold the guy at a loss and gotten rid of him...
I hope he actually sees legal punishment for this, disgusting we allowed him to carry on playing for so long after the initial reports.
If you’re Arteta/Arsenal, how can you honestly say you’re building a positive culture around the club if this guy was a part of it.
I'm a lifelong Arsenal fan but there is no way to defend the club's inaction and even support of him over this.
Am I taking crazy pills? Arsenal dealt with this correctly.
He was arrested but people can be arrested for a host of things, including looking like someone else who has committed a crime or just being in the wrong place. You can't sack someone for purely being arrested or investigated. If you could then every week we would have some new accusations against footballers, not for criminal reason but so that they can't play.
Once someone is charged then they are no longer just accusations and a player should be either suspended or sacked depending on each clubs policy.
It has lined up that he has been charged when he is not an Arsenal player. Lucky for the club as we never had to find out their policy.
If he had been charged a year ago and the club continued to play him I would understand all the comments in this thread, but I want people to imagine an alternative where he is dropped by the club after the allegations but then charges are never brought and investigations are stopped. Would that have been the right move? I don't think so.
Honestly, Arsenal would have been acting on the advice of their lawyers throughout this whole process. This is how professional organisations operate, especially in light of what happened between Mendy and City.
Its reddit, the hive mind is not always right
You and I must be insane, because this is the first comment I’ve seen that reads like an adult wrote it.
Probably because I am an adult who sees the world the grey it is rather than black or white. When you are young it's very easy to be idealistic but as you grow up you see the real world.
And how do you explain arteta publicly supporting him?
There's a difference between how the club was acting from a legal perspective vs how it operated as an actual club comprised of members. Arsenal were still promoting him as a key player featured on the starting lineup graphics and such. That's the part that's gross, given we now know some of these instances occurred AFTER his first arrest in 2021.
For the most part people understand a large organization will get legal advice to do nothing and will follow that advice, despite pressure from fans. That being said, you don't have other promote him like "one of the boys" when he was being accused of some heinous stuff. Doesn't help that the manager referred to this as the player "going through so much".
You replied about being an adult and as you grow older you "see the real world" yet you can't grasp why people are upset at how this was handled? A bit shocking for someone who can "see the grey rather than black and white"
I don't understand why CPS didn't authorize charges earlier. As soon as he's charged you've got to suspend but just because someone accuses you. That's a bit much.
Am I taking crazy pills? Arsenal dealt with this correctly.
Yes, you certainly are. Or have just turned a blind eye to what's happened due to bias.
I recommend looking into what happened when one victim contacted the club.
With something this serious paid suspension while it's being investigated is the standard.
This clearly had more footing than a random arrest.
Arsenal and arteta are trash
Of course they fucking knew, despicable club.
They knew he was under investigation, and Partey & his legal team would have been obliged to tell Arsenal how it’s going and any likelihood of charges etc.
So yeah they definitely knew, and still continued to play him, publicly support him (in Arteta’s case), and sweep it under the carpet.
Not acceptable.
Arsenal Football Club and Mikel Arteta are complicit.
This is absolutely disgraceful, and not just for Arsenal. If there weren't league wide policies for handling this sort of thing appropriately before, this would have been an obvious and urgent moment to establish some.
It's not good enough to say "we followed safeguarding advice", this is also about the culture and perception of the game. Where are the values? Sadly, in this case, perception seems to be reality.
I'm so so disappointed in my club, and the wider footballing authorities.
As an Arsenal fan I am hoping for a detailed explanation. It looks like cynism at its worst.
Football clubs are about values and we need them more than ever with the course capitalism is taking. But not like that.
Arsenal handled this dreadfully.
With that being said it’s about time that the serious conversations are had to ensure there are safeguarding standards that don’t allow this to go unchecked again.
In other highly public professions (actors, politicians etc) allegations of this nature aren’t tolerated, don’t understand why it’s so different in football. Actors (not always but often) especially pretty much get shitcanned from Hollywood as soon as anything of this nature comes out in the news. That doesn’t necessarily have to be the solution in football, but there’s got to be somewhere between that and deciding it doesn’t fall under current safeguarding regulations and washing your hands of anything.
Honestly disgraceful from both the league and arsenal. Cant be pushing this shit under the rug or looking the other way.
His initial arrest in July 2022 came after a police investigation had been launched that February. However, evidence seen by Telegraph Sport shows definitively that the club and authorities will have been aware of concerns five months before even then.
Obligatory fuck Arsenal.
Absolutely disgusting. I hope their supporters have been contacting the club about this to express their displeasure about how this was handled. People need to know this isn't okay.
Arteta needs a solid booing at the next home preseason match. Let's hope they have enough spine to at least match the noise they gave Wenger in his last days as manager.
Fuck it I'll take downvotes if partey is found not guilty what then ?
[deleted]
That's my point though what if arsenal heard his side of the story and believed him
And until he's found guilty their allowed to do that you don't think their PR team wouldn't be allowed over this
And coming from someone who believes there is no smoke without fire he still hasn't been guilty and until then everybody should have patience until evidence is presented in court then make all these statements
[deleted]
Erm guys what happen to innocent until proven guilty?
If you got arrested for being a rapist good luck turning up to work the next day & pretending like nothing had happened.
Well apparently Partey did
This is reddit. People use emotion over facts and rules. Look at what happened to Benjamin Mendy. Career ruined before he was cleared of charges.
Boys club and rape culture go hand in hand. Exhibit A everyone: protecting and supporting Thomas Partey while EVERYONE knew he was a rapist. Arsenal should be fucking ashamed
I'm appalled at how even all the way up to the charges being formally made the club was still trying to negotiate a new contract with him
Arsenal turned a blind eye to this because he was useful to them on the pitch. And still won fuck all. Disgraced themselves for absolutely nothing. Utterly tinpot shambles of a 'club'.
Who knew closing your eyes won't make the problem go away?
But it did, for them. Played him until his contract ran out.
And then only didn't give him a new one because he wanted too much money by all accounts
Worth it to win the league right? Oh they didn't?
xG champions
But Mikel Arteta said he was a stand up guy so it's all ok
Won't anyone think of the rapists?
Marseille will, don't worry
What about the analyst-therapists?
It wasn't really the pronunciation that bothered me
#AnalrapistLivesMatter
You blowhard!
Nah you have to think about “what he has been through AND the injuries”
Everytime anyone brought it up, arsenal fans would downvote it into oblivion saying that he said “he has been through with the injuries” except he very clearly says “AND” and not anything else
Edit- Honestly if we had a rapist in our squad and Klopp or Slot came out in support of that person, I couldn’t in a good conscience support the club until they got rid of everyone complicit in it. It’s pretty clear Partey committed even more acts of sexual assault after realising that he’ll have no problem with the clubs if he was decent enough on the pitch. The culture at the clubs allowed him to continue this. Arteta, his teammates and the club put even more people in danger by directly allowing him to be at work for years.
Eh...it's easy to say that, but when it actually happens people's attachment to the club generally supersedes any morality.
Liverpool came out in support of a guy who was convicted of smashing a guy's head in with a paving slab in an attempt to kill him, the victim said it was him as did other witnesses, he lost several appeals to domestic and European courts. Players even came out on the pitch wearing t-shirts saying he should be freed, successfully pressuring the government to release him on the basis of secret "evidence", meaning he's loose on the streets because of them. I don't remember any Liverpool fans turning their backs on the club over it.
They had a player who was found guilty of racially abusing an opponent, Kenneth Dalglish had the whole squad come out in T-shirts with his face on them to support him. He set Liverpool fans against the victim, calling for the victim to be punished and falsely accusing the victim of crying wolf. Far from being shunned, he's since had a stand named after him.
There's no direct analogue in terms of a rapist player, but you'd think racism and attempted murder would be moral red lines. When it's your football club most people forgive it.
I'm not a Liverpool fan and don't recall the first example, but to be fair they eventually apologised for the t-shirts. It took far longer than it should have, but they admitted they were wrong. I hope Arsenal will also admit they got this wrong eventually as well.
Patrice Evra: "I saw [the T-shirts]. I was watching the game. I was like, this is ridiculous. It is unbelievable. Even for the club, you put your own club in danger when you do those things. I understand you always have to support your player because this is your team. But this was after the ban. If it was before the ban and you are waiting for the sanctions, but he got the ban. So what message are you sending out to the world when you do that? Supporting someone who has been banned for using racist words?"
Jamie Carragher: "There is no doubt that we made a massive mistake. That was obvious. It was an evening game and because it was Wigan, we travelled there on the day of the game. We got there, had our lunch and then we had a team meeting. I just remember in the team meeting, I don't know whether it was the manager or Steve Clarke asking one of the players: 'Are you still wearing the shirts?' That was the first I had heard of it.
"I am not lying on that and saying 'I wasn't a part of it' because as a club, we got it wrong and we were all part of it. I was vice-captain. But that was the first I had heard of it that afternoon. So I am not sure who was actually behind it. I know you mention the manager, but I don't think Kenny had anything to do with it, to be honest, it was the players who Luis was close to in the dressing room who really wanted to support their mate and their friend.
"What I would say is that maybe I, as an individual, lacked the courage to say I wasn't wearing it. Because once the squad has decided... I have to look at myself. I didn't have enough courage. Maybe there were others. I don't think everybody within Liverpool thought that we were doing what was right. But as a family, as a football club, your first reaction - no matter what someone does - is to support them even if they are wrong. And that is wrong. I am not condoning it, but that is the first reaction. Apologies. We got it massively wrong."
Patrice Evra: "Actually, I understand. The first reaction of your club and your team-mate is to support you. If I made a massive mistake and I see my team-mates or the club doesn't support me, I would feel they were letting me down. So I understand and I don't understand. It is 50-50."
Great guy. Always said hello to his neighbours.
the messages everyone said were fake incase anyone hasn’t seen them/can’t find them
Closing their eyes? I take it you haven't read their hard-hitting statement
Honestly just a shit club lol. Rotten all the way to Arteta who defended him. Remember how quickly Everton acted on Gylfi and that guy wasn’t even guilty. Arsenal culture reeks.
and did Everton do the right thing in hindsight?