Ban for West Ham chief who said Africans cause mayhem
TONY HENRY, the former director of player recruitment at West Ham, has been banned from football for a year by the FA after being exposed by Sportsmail for comments he made about African players.
As this newspaper revealed in January, Henry sent an email to an agent telling him the Premier League club had no desire to sign any more African footballers in that month’s transfer window. Henry was contacted by Sportsmail to explain the email and, to the horror of his employers, tried to justify himself by claiming that African players ‘ have a bad attitude’ and ‘ cause mayhem’ when they are not in the team. West Ham immediately suspended Henry, sacking him days later after a full investigation into the matter.
The Premier League club publicly condemned his comments, calling them ‘unacceptable’.
A club statement at the time said: ‘West Ham is an inclusive club where, regardless of gender, age, ability, race, religion or sexual orientation, everybody feels welcome.’
Henry was charged by the FA and responded by issuing a public apology in a TV interview.
But yesterday his career in football, first as a player at Manchester City and a number of other clubs and then as a scout before becoming the head of recruitment at West Ham, was in ruins. A statement released by the FA said: ‘ Mr Henry has been suspended from all football and football- related activity for 12 months and must attend an FA education course. Henry admitted a misconduct charge in relation to comments he made that were improper and/or insulting and/or abusive and included reference to ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race and/or nationality.’
Last night English football’s antiracism campaign, kick It Out, issued a statement saying: ‘We welcome this decision which reaffirms the FA’s zero-tolerance policy on racial discrimination and prejudice.
‘The reality is that people always need to know there is a price to be paid for their comments.’
After being told about the email sent by Henry which stated ‘we don’t want any more Africans’, kick It Out chairman Lord Ouseley said it was potentially unlawful given its discriminatory nature.
The Professional Footballers’ Association responded to West Ham’s decision to suspend Henry by saying they ‘strongly condemn any such views and there is no place for them in football.’
The FA also investigated the conduct of the club but concluded only Henry should be sanctioned.
Don’t sign any More africans! West Ham’s How Sportsmail broke the story