Dave Whelan: Wigan owner accepts FA charge

Wigan owner Dave Whelan has accepted a Football Association charge over comments he made about Jewish and Chinese people.

The 78-year-old has written a letter in mitigation to the governing body and has not requested a personal hearing.

Whelan, who said he would resign as club chairman if punished, has denied making racist remarks.

He has said he was misquoted in an interview with the Guardian last month, during which he used the term "chink".

The Guardian also says the businessman said: "Jewish people chase money more than everybody else."

Whelan subsequently apologised for any offence caused by his comments in the interview, in which he was defending the appointment of Malky Mackay as the club's new manager.

The FA ruled Whelan's comments constituted an aggravated breach of 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 governing body has also looked into other comments made by Whelan about Chinese people in a December interview with the Jewish Telegraph.

He is said to have referred to a local Chinese restaurant as "chingalings".