The Athletic FC Podcast Network.

Welcome to the Athletic FFC podcast with me, Ayot Akemuileri.

On Friday, June the 4th, news broke that former Arsenal midfielder Thomas Party

had been charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.

In connection with alleged offences between 2021 and 22.

And relate to three separate women.

There are lots of questions that remain unanswered.

Police began investigations in February 2022,

but party carried on playing for Arsenal until his contract expired on June 30th.

He denies all allegations and will appear in court on August 5th.

For their side, Arsenal say the player's contract ended in June and they are unable to comment due to ongoing legal proceedings.

We'll discuss why it took so long to get here.

Was it right that Arsenal let party play on?

And how do fans feel about the situation?

With me, we have the Athletics Editor-in-Chief Laura Williamson,

and Arsenal writer James McNicholas.

All right, James, let's start with Thomas Party.

Can you tell us who he is and about his time at Arsenal, please?

Yeah, Thomas Pate is a

Ghanaian international midfield player. Arsenal signed him in 2020 from Athletico Madrid. They paid

a significant sum. I think it was 50-million euro buyout clause. They had to go and deposit that

in one go with La Liga's central offices in order to extricate him from his Atletico contract.

...