Soccer-West Ham suspends director of player recruitment Tony Henry over racism allegations

Feb 1 (Reuters) – West Ham United have suspended Tony Henry, their director of player recruitment, over allegations of racial discrimination, the Premier League club said on Thursday.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, Henry said the club wanted to limit the number of African players in its squad because “they have bad attitudes” and “cause chaos” when they are not in the team.

The club confirmed that Henry had been suspended pending a “full and thorough investigation”.

“West Ham United does not tolerate discrimination of any kind and has therefore acted quickly given the seriousness of these allegations,” the club said in a statement.

“The West Ham United family is an inclusive family where everyone feels welcome and included, regardless of gender, age, ability, race, religion or sexual orientation.”

“The club will make no further comment until the investigation is complete.”

Henry joined West Ham in 2014 after previously working for Everton, Sunderland and Chelsea. (Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru, Editing by Pritha Sarkar)