Two clubs launch joint appeal to Fifa over West Ham with second transfer hanging in the balance due to ‘computer error’
LYON and Real Betis are launching a joint appeal to FIFA after West Ham’s technical failures caused problems with deals for both Said Benrahma and Pablo Fornals on deadline day.
Both clubs agreed deals with the Hammers to sign their players on Thursday night, only for issues to crop up with FIFA’s Transfer Matching System (TMS).
Pablo Fornals was expected to complete a £7million move to Real Betis, while Benrahma saw a loan to Lyon collapse entirely.
Having failed to process the deals via TMS ahead of Thursday’s deadline, West Ham sent through the required details on Friday morning.
Given that all contracts were signed before the deadline and only the TMS was not completed, both Lyon and Betis are hoping that FIFA will still allow the deals to go through.
FIFA are aware of the incidents around both deals and are investigating, with Betis keen for a resolution on the Fornals move as they must register players for the Europa Conference League by tonight.
David 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.”
Fornals, 27, is keen on a return to Spain after spending the last four-and-a-half years in east London.
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The midfielder was spotted at last night’s 1-1 draw between West Ham and Bournemouth as a move to Betis grew closer.
But as of Friday morning, the transfer is yet to be confirmed by either club due to a reported “computer error.”
LaLiga’s official transfer page shows that the move has been given “provisional validation”.
And the player faces an anxious wait with his future expected to be confirmed later today.
Ramon Alarcon, CEO at Betis, said: “There was a last minute problem with Fornals, we think it was a computer problem.
“Betis sent all the documents correctly and on time and it seems West Ham had a computer problem. It wasn’t just with Betis it was with other deals. We hope that it gets resolved in the next few days.”
Asked if he was optimistic about a deal happening, he added: “Well it was done on both sides. We imagine that with a computer error it can be resolved. We are on working on it and we are optimistic.”
Fornals has scored 23 goals in 202 games for West Ham following a £24million move from Villarreal in 2019.
Olympique Lyonnais deeply regrets this situation and this decision, which shows a profound lack of respect on the part of West Ham towards both the Institution and the player
Lyon statement
It is the second transfer mystery to surround West Ham on deadline day.
Winger Benrahma was set for a loan move to Lyon before the deal collapsed at the last moment.
The French club lashed out at West Ham in a scathing statement.
It read: “Olympique Lyonnais deeply regretted the failure of Benrahma’s transfer, for reasons beyond his control, and questioned West Ham’s behaviour in failing to finalise the required administrative procedures, despite all the agreements made.
“The two clubs had signed a temporary transfer agreement.
“However, early in the evening, while Olympique Lyonnais had entered all the administrative data on FIFA’s dedicated platform, FIFA TMS, West Ham had never initiated the slightest technical procedure of their own, despite repeated reminders from OL and continuous mutual telephone communication.
“In the absence of this reciprocal action from the English club and due to this incomprehensible behavior, raising questions, the international transfer certificate could not be requested before the deadline.
“Olympique Lyonnais deeply regrets this situation and this decision, which shows a profound lack of respect on the part of West Ham towards both the Institution and the player.
“The club reserves the right to initiate all procedures to validate the transaction after the event, and to hold West Ham responsible if necessary.”
A West Ham spokesperson added: “West Ham United can confirm that the Deadline Day deal for Said Benrahma to join Olympique Lyonnais was not concluded ahead of the deadline, with a deal unable to be completed before 11pm.”
Moyes noted: “It’s a big word to use before we get a chance to show exactly what happened or didn’t happen. I’m not really the right man to speak about that.
“It’s something we’ve never had to deal with before and I’m an experienced manager. We’ll have to see.
“He (Benrahma) is suspended for this week so he’s not available at the moment. We’ll deal with it when we get back into a period where we can play him.”
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