(Reuters) – The Premier League is investigating whether there was a breach of transfer rules after Robert Snodgrass at West Bromwich Albion did not play against his club West Ham United on Tuesday, the BBC reported.
The 33-year-old midfielder joined West Ham on January 8 and made his Sam Allardyce side’s debut in a 3-2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
However, Allardyce said the player was unavailable for the trip to West Ham due to “an agreement between the clubs”.
“We could only make the deal with that deal,” he told BT Sport ahead of the game at the London Stadium.
While loan players cannot face their parent clubs, the situation is different for permanent transfers.
The Premier League rules state: “No club shall accept a contract which allows any other party to that contract to be able to adequately influence its policies or the performance of its teams in league matches. ”
West Brom lost the game 2-1.
Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Edited by Peter Rutherford