The story about Lenell John-Lewis and an investigation into his contract at Hereford first appeared in the Telegraph late this afternoon.
'The Football Asscociation have launched a forgery investigation into Covid-19 clauses being taken out of players’ contracts without their permission.
Lenell John-Lewis has told Telegraph Sport that he requested a copy of his contract from the FA when told the clause, allowing him to leave Hereford, did not exist.
The 31-year-old wanted to trigger the clause that stated he could leave the club if stadiums were still empty during the coronavirus pandemic and contract renegotiations were unsuccessful.
John-Lewis, who has since agreed a move to Grimsby Town, says the clause was crossed out and his initials were added without his permission.
“There were clauses that I believed were in the contract, which I wanted to use to leave the club, which is why I asked for it to be sent to me,” he said. “It stated that with no fans attending games, there would be a renegotiation. If the renegotiation wasn’t achieved both parties would agree to mutually terminate the contract.
“When I made it clear I wanted to use the clause, I was told it is not actually in your contract and that the FA asked for it not to be in there. That is when I had to speak to the FA and check myself.“The clause had been scribbled out and there were initials on the left-hand side. And there were initials on the right-hand side which I then realised were mine. I didn’t put them there. I didn’t even know the clause was meant to be taken out.
“It was definitely not me. I had initialled that paper at the bottom on the day I signed the contract but that was the only thing I did.”
Hereford confirmed the FA are now investigating. It is understood some of John-Lewis’s former team-mates are now concerned their terms have been doctored, with the governing body also wanting to speak to other players at the club founded in 2014 following Hereford United’s demise.
Many contracts were agreed before current chairman Rob Crawford was in his role at the club. Crawford released a statement earlier this week saying “it has recently been brought to our attention that there were discrepancies within some of the players contracts that have been lodged with the FA”. They also announced the departure of club secretary Martin Crawford (Watson - BN edit) on January 24.
The club are currently in the National League North, which has been suspended for two weeks over Government funding and safety during the pandemic. John-Lewis eventually sealed his move back to Grimsby close to the transfer deadline after seeing his pathway blocked.
Nicknamed “The Shop”, after the department store, the cult hero
played for Grimsby earlier in his career and is now playing in the EFL
again following spells at Lincoln, Bury, Newport and Shrewsbury.'