West Ham United have suspended their director of player recruitment, Tony Henry, after he left them open to accusations of racism and potentially unlawful discrimination by telling agents in the transfer window that they don't want to sign any more African players.

After being confronted by Sportsmail, Henry made the shocking admission that West Ham do indeed want to limit the number of African players because 'they have a bad attitude' and 'cause mayhem' when they are not in the team.

West Ham's director of transfers Tony Henry made a shocking admission

West Ham said in a statement on Thursday: 'The Club can confirm that Director of Player Recruitment Tony Henry has been suspended pending a full and thorough investigation. 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.'

The Hammers are said to be put off from buying Africans after selling Diafra Sakho (centre)

The FA have opened an investigation under rule F2 which covers their powers of inquiry.

Meanwhile the Professional Footballers' Association welcomed West Ham's quick response.

Their statement read: 'The PFA strongly condemn any such views and there is no place for them in football. The swift action by West Ham United is encouraging and we trust they will deal with this in keeping with football’s position on all matters of equality and anti-racism.'

As news of Sportsmail's exclusive spread, West Ham's Senegalese midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate posted on Instagram: 'African and proud'. The post was liked by fellow Hammers Manuel Lanzini, Adrian, Pedro Obiang and Arthur Masuaku.

West Ham midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate posted on Instagram on Thursday: 'African and proud'

WHAT IS FA RULE F2? F) POWERS OF INQUIRY OF THE ASSOCIATION 1 The Association shall have the power to monitor the compliance by each Participant with the Rules, the Laws of the Game, the statutes and regulations of FIFA and UEFA and the rules and regulations of each Affiliated Association and Competition to which a Participant is subject and/or inquire into any incident, facts or matters which may constitute misconduct under these Rules. It is for The Association to determine in its absolute discretion the manner in which it conducts an inquiry. 2 In carrying out its functions under Rule F1, The Association shall have the power to require of any Participant upon reasonable notice: (a) his or her attendance to answer questions and provide information at a time and place determined by The Association; and (b) the provision to The Association of documents, information or any other material of any nature held by the Participant; and (c) the procurement and provision to The Association of documents, informationor any other material of any nature not held by the Participant but which the Participant has the power to obtain. It is for The Association to determine the nature and extent of any material required for disclosure in accordance with (b) or (c). Where a Participant is interviewed by The Association pursuant to sub-paragraph (a) above, such interview may be recorded by any method determined by The Association in its absolute discretion to be appropriate, including tape-recording. A copy of any such recording shall be provided to the Participant as soon as practicable after the interview. Advertisement

WEST HAM'S STARS OF AFRICAN DESCENT West Ham have six first-team stars who are of African descent. Two of the listed stars —Joao Mario and Angelo Ogbonna — have chosen to represent Portugal and Italy respectively despite being able to play for African countries through their parents. Pedro Obiang played for Spain's youth teams but has not represented the senior side and could still play for Equatorial Guinea. Edimilson Fernandes plays for Switzerland but is of Cape Verdean descent. Left back Arthur Masuaku is yet to play for DR Congo but received a call-up in August while Cheikhou Kouyate is an experienced internationals for Senegal. Cheikhou Kouyate (Senegal) Pedro Obiang (Equatorial Guinea) Joao Mario (Angola) Angelo Ogbonna (Nigeria) Arthur Masuaku (DR Congo) Edimilson Fernandes (Cape Verde) Advertisement

Lord Ouseley, chairperson of Kick It Out, described an email sent by Henry — and leaked to this newspaper — as potentially unlawful.

Henry sent an email on January 27 — in response to an inquiry about a footballer of Cameroonian descent — to another senior West Ham official and an agent.

In the email, Henry wrote: 'We don't want any more Africans and he's not good enough. I sent Thomas to watch him and the other lad last week and he said no. If Palace take them good luck.' Sportsmail knows the identity of both recipients but a stipulation before being sent the email was that they should remain anonymous.

Henry was asked if there is a club policy regarding African players. Initially he replied 'no', only to be informed that we understand he has told more than one agent in the last month that the club does not want any more African players.

Henry then confirmed it was true and suggested it was a policy supported by club management. 'Yeah,' Henry replied. 'Because we had three and we felt we didn't particularly want any more African players.'

Asked why, Henry replied: '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.'

Asked if he thought his view was discriminatory towards African players, Henry asked: 'In what way?'

Senegal international Cheikhou Kouyate has been playing for West Ham since June 2014

Andre Ayew is an experienced Ghana international having represented his country 75 times

Pedro Obiang played youth football for Spain but is able to represent Equatorial Guinea

Asked then if he thought his comments amounted to a slight on African players, he replied: 'No. I don't know what you are trying to get at here. All I said was, look, we have a great lad in Kouyate, he's brilliant, a great player for us, he's a good lad.

'But the likes of Sakho have caused mayhem. When he's not playing … he always wants a new deal. That's all it was. It was nothing discriminatory at all.

'I could say we get offered Russian players. I just find with Russian players that they don't settle in England.

'It's like Italians. How many Italians come and settle in England? As a club we are not discriminatory at all.

'If you've got too many, they all sit together and it becomes a situation where you can have problems. But then you can have problems with English players. I don't know what you are driving at.'

West Ham new boy Joao Mario elected to play for Portugal but is of Angolan descent

Angelo Ogbonna's parents are Nigerian but he chose to represent the Italian national team

Left back Arthur Masuaku, pictured in training last week, has received call-ups by DR Congo

Edimilson Fernandes is a Switzerland international but is of Cape Verdean descent

Rigobert Song (left) and Frederic Kanoute (right) represented African countries while at West Ham

Lord Ouseley was contacted before the conversation with Henry but in response to the 60-year-old former Manchester City player's email, he said: 'From my point of view, firstly, that is clearly unacceptable now in football. But secondly it's unlawful to make a statement like that.

'It's clearly discriminatory but giving instruction to someone to discriminate against a person is unlawful.

'Kick It Out would not expect this from any football club official and I would expect that club to take the necessary action.'

Sportsmail contacted West Ham on Wednesday and this was their statement: 'West Ham United is an inclusive, respectful and diverse football club. Equality is at the heart of our ethos and values.

'We were recently given the opportunity to demonstrate the extent of our firm commitment to these values, which are embedded throughout the Club, with a view to achieving the intermediate level of the Premier League's equality mark, recognised and supported by Kick it Out.

'We have worked extremely hard over the last 18 months across all areas of the Club and we are confident in our achievements.

'All West Ham United employees are required to go on equality, diversity and unconscious-bias training as part of our new mandatory training and workforce plan.

'We take any allegations of discrimination extremely seriously and are now in the process of ascertaining the full facts behind this accusation.'