“Absolute disgrace” – Carragher blasts World Cup organisers over Partey issue

Former Liverpool FC defender Jamie Carragher has criticised FIFA and the Canadian authorities over the visa controversy involving Thomas Partey ahead of Ghana national football team’s World Cup opener against Panama national football team.

Carragher described the situation as an “absolute disgrace” and said it emphasized serious failures in tournament planning and administration.

Speaking ahead of the tournament, Carragher said it was unacceptable that a key player could be put at risk of missing a match because of unresolved paperwork.

“This is an absolute disgrace from a tournament planning point of view,” he said.

“You spend years building towards a World Cup, qualifying, preparing squads, getting everything right, and then something like this happens days before kick-off. It’s just not acceptable at this level of football.”

The former England defender questioned how the issue had been allowed to reach the final days before the tournament.

“If Thomas Partey is part of Ghana’s plans and has been cleared to be in the squad, then how does it get to a point where a visa issue knocks him out of the opening game against Panama? That’s not football, that’s administrative failure,” he added.

Carragher said responsibility had to be taken by whichever body was at fault, whether FIFA, Canadian immigration authorities or tournament organisers.

“I don’t care who is responsible, FIFA, Canada, immigration, someone has to take accountability,” he said. “You cannot tell fans to invest emotionally in a tournament and then allow situations where key players are missing because paperwork wasn’t sorted in time.”

He also argued that such matters should be resolved long before the competition begins.

“At the very least, these issues should be resolved weeks before the first match. It’s unfair on the player, it’s unfair on Ghana, and it damages the integrity of the competition. This is exactly the kind of chaos that should never happen at a World Cup.”

The comments come amid growing concern among Ghanaian supporters over Partey’s availability for the opening fixture. Neither FIFA nor the Canadian authorities had publicly responded to Carragher’s remarks at the time of publication.