Hammers in FA racism probe
when they are not in the team they cause mayhem. It’s nothing against the African race.
“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.” Amadou subsequently came close to signing for Palace, only for Lille to block their offer of a £2million loan fee and an additional £14m to buy him in the summer.
When asked if he thought his comments amounted to a slight on African players, Henry apparently replied “no” and praised the efforts of West Ham’s Senegal midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate who posted a picture of himself on Instagram with the caption “African and proud”.
West Ham have promised “a full and thorough investigation” into their side of any discussions.
“The club will not tolerate any type of discrimination and has, therefore, acted swiftly due to the serious nature of these claims,” a spokesperson said.
The FA have written to West Ham asking for their observations and pointed out the club as a whole would be investigated along with Henry as there is a suggestion one of their most senior figures seemed to have been aware of the offending email.
Yesterday the club were trying to ascertain who precisely had seen which email but the FA will invoke powers given to them under section F2 of their handbook to force West Ham “to provide documents, information or any other material”.