Wigan owner Whelan charged by FA over racism row

Dave Whelan, owner of Championship side Wigan Athletic, has been charged by the FA for insulting Jewish and Chinese people in a newspaper interview.

"It is alleged the Wigan Athletic chairman breached FA Rule E3 [1] in that his comments were abusive and/or insulting and/or constitute improper conduct and/or bring the game into disrepute," the FA said in a statement on Thursday.

"It is further alleged that this is an ‘Aggravated Breach’ as defined by FA Rule E3 [2] as it included a reference to ethnic origin and/or race and/or nationality and/or religion or belief."

The FA added that Whelan had until December 5 to respond to the charge.

Whelan was accused of anti-Semitism and condoning racism for referring to Chinese people as "chinks" and saying Jewish people "chase money" in an interview he gave to the Guardian after hiring Malky Mackay as manager.

The Wigan owner later apologised during an interview with Sky Sports television but his comments were widely condemned.

Chinese community leader Jenny Wong told the Guardian that he was condoning racism while anti-discrimination group Kick It Out questioned whether he was "a fit and proper person who should be running a professional football club".

The Board of Deputies of British Jews also said the apology was not good enough.

"Whelan's bigoted and racist comments about Jews are outrageous and offensive and bring the club and the game in to disrepute," said board vice president Jonathan Arkush.

"His half-hearted apology does not go far enough. You cannot insult a whole group of people, and then say, 'I would never insult them', and hope that's OK."

The FA also said last week that a case against former Cardiff City manager Mackay and Iain Moody, the Welsh club's former head of recruitment, was continuing.

Texts between Mackay and Moody, some of which were sexist, racist and homophobic in nature, were made public in August.