FIFA are investigating West Ham United after two transfer deadline day deals collapsed, it has been claimed.
Lyon looked on the cusp of signing Said Benrahma, with the winger set to put pen to paper on his contract live on television.
However, the £15million deal dramatically broke down at the eleventh hour, which led to the French club releasing an explosive statement accusing West Ham of a “deep lack of respect” towards them and the player.
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The statement read: “Olympique Lyonnais deeply regrets this situation and this decision, demonstrating a deep lack of respect on the part of West Ham for the institution and the player.
“The club reserves the right to initiate all appropriate procedures necessary to validate the operation later, and to hold West Ham accountable if necessary.”
West Ham manager David Moyes responded to the accusation at his Friday morning press conference. He said: “It’s a big word to use before we get a chance to show exactly what happened or didn’t happen.”
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Meanwhile, Real Betis still expect their £6.8million signing of Fornals to be ratified, despite a “computer problem” on West Ham’s part delaying its completion.
Both Lyon and Betis are now in contact with FIFA, who are looking into what caused both deals to seemingly collapse. According to the Sun, the governing body is aware of the incidents around both deals and is investigating.
Having failed to process the deals via FIFA's Transfer Matching System ahead of Thursday's deadline, West Ham sent through the required details on Friday morning.
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Given that all contracts were signed before the deadline, Betis are hoping that FIFA will still allow the Fornals deal to go through, with the La Liga outfit keen for a resolution before they register players for the Europa Conference League by tonight.
Moyes said: "It looks like there have been some problems with the paperwork [for Benrahma] at the last minute. But I only learned about it when I came off the pitch late last night.
"I think there is a chance the Pablo deal will be ratified. I can't confirm if it will or not at the moment though.
"We wanted to strengthen, and we worked really hard to bring in an attacking player as well but we couldn't just quite get there."
Topics: Football, West Ham United, FIFA, Premier League
Chris Byfield