West Ham United have suspended player recruitment director Tony Henry over comments he made in regards to African players.
Henry left himself open to racism allegations after he claimed West Ham don’t want to sign any more African players because “they can have a bad attitude” and “cause mayhem” if they don’t get picked.
The Daily Mail reported that Henry sent an email to another senior West Ham official and an agent explaining that the club “do not want any more Africans”.
When he was asked if there is an official club policy on signing players from Africa, he initially replied “no”, only to then change his answer.
“Yeah, because we had three and we felt we didn’t particularly want any more African players,” he explained.
When asked why, he said: “Erm, no reason. It’s nothing racist at all. It’s just sometimes they can have a bad attitude.
“We had problems with Sakho, with Diafra Sakho. We find that when they are not in the team they cause mayhem. It’s nothing against the African race at all.
“I mean, look, there are top African players. There’s not a problem with them. It’s just sometimes they cause a lot of problems when they are not playing, as we had with Diafra. He’s left, so great. It’s nothing personal at all.”
A statement from West Ham on Thursday morning read: “West Ham United will not tolerate any type of discrimination and has, therefore, acted swiftly due to the serious nature of these claims.
“The West Ham United family is an inclusive one where, regardless of gender, age, ability, race, religion or sexual orientation, everybody feels welcome and included.
“The club will make no further comment until the investigation has been concluded.”
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