Sam Allardyce revealed an agreement was in place as part of Snodgrass’ recent move
The Premier League are reportedly investigating a possible rule breach by West Brom and West Ham related to the recent transfer of Robert Snodgrass.
Snodgrass left West Ham to join Sam Allardyce’s side earlier in the month but, as the recently appointed West Brom boss explained, would play no part in Tuesday’s game against his former employers because of “an agreement between the clubs”.
As reported by The Athletic, such an agreement could be viewed as a breach of Premier League regulation I 7, which reads: “no club shall enter into a contract which enables another party to that contract to acquire the ability materially to influence its policies or the performance of its teams in league matches”.
At the time of writing, neither club has officially commented on the matter, though a tweet from West Brom did repeat comments made by Allardyce before the game.
‘Sam Allardyce has confirmed Robert Snodgrass is unavailable to play in tonight’s game owing to the agreement reached with West Ham to sign the player,’ the tweet read.
Sam Allardyce has confirmed Robert Snodgrass is unavailable to play in tonight's game owing to the agreement reached with West Ham to sign the player.#WHUWBA | #WBA pic.twitter.com/kS57KSXzRX
— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) January 19, 2021
If found guilty of a breach of rules, sanctions including a points deduction could be brought against each club, though the article by The Athletic insists this is unlikely.
West Ham beat West Brom 2-1 in the game at the London Stadium. Jarrod Bowen gave them the lead in stoppage time at the end of the first half and after an equaliser from Matheus Pereira, David Moyes’ side clinched all three points courtesy of Michail Antonio’s winner.
Allardyce was less reluctant to discuss the issue after the game, claiming he has “bigger worries.”
