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Tony Henry given year-long ban by Football Association

Ex-head of recruitment at West Ham has been punished for comments he made about African players.

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Tony Henry, the former head of player recruitment at West Ham, has been suspended from all football-related activity for 12 months by the Football Association over comments he made about African players.

Henry was suspended by the Hammers before being sacked in February after he was accused of racism and discrimination for allegedly telling agents the Premier League club did not want to sign any more African players.

Following an FA investigation he will now be banned from the game for a year and will be required to attend an education course.

“Tony Henry, former West Ham United head of player recruitment, has been suspended from all football and football related activity for 12 months and must attend an FA education course,” the governing body tweeted through their official FA Spokesperson account.

“Mr 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.”

The Daily Mail reported Henry had said in an email that West Ham wanted to limit the number of African players because they “sometimes have a bad attitude” and “cause mayhem” when they are not in the team.

Those comments were deemed “unacceptable” by the club, while the Professional Footballers’ Association said it was “shocked” by the report, and the FA followed that up with an official charge.

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