Dave Whelan, the Wigan Athletic chairman, last night said he is adamant he has every right to offer Malky Mackay a route back into football despite a potential Football Association charge hanging over the Scot.
Mackay was named manager of the Sky Bet Championship side yesterday succeeding Uwe Rosler in the post just three months after he, and the then Crystal Palace director of football Iain Moody, had admitted sending text messages which Mackay deemed were "disrespectful of other cultures". The texts related to the pair's time together at Cardiff City.
The FA is continuing to investigate the details of those text messages and may speed up their findings now Mackay is back in employment, but Whelan is confident there will be no further sanctions.
"I've read and listened to what Malky did and he's been totally up front and honest," said Whelan. "What he did and what he said I can't see it [the investigation] really going too far. He's been up front, he's said he's done that and 'I'm very sorry'."
Whelan disclosed that he had shared conversations with English football's governing body regarding Mackay's potential appointment and is confident that a line can be drawn under the matter.
He did explain, however, that his club had taken steps to safeguard themselves should the FA censure the 43-year-old.
"We have spoken to the FA, there's nothing happened, I don't think there's anything in the pipeline," Whelan said. "I don't think there's anything really to investigate but, that is in the contract, we have protected the football club and Malky has been absolutely 100 per cent open about it all.
"He admits what he did and he's apologised for what he said. I accept that fully and totally. I just want to get on with the great game of playing football."
However, while Whelan and Mackay may want to move on from an issue which is understood to have scuppered the Scot's chances of securing the Crystal Palace job in August, the anti-discrimination body Kick It Out claimed the club had "disregarded" the FA's ongoing investigation and called on the country's governing body to clarify its position.
A Kick It Out statement read: "The FA began investigating in August alleged racist, anti-Semitic, sexist and homophobic comments made by Malky Mackay and Iain Moody, and we are still yet to hear whether this is near to reaching its conclusion almost three months on. Where does the case now lie and how close are we to seeing whether the FA will take the appropriate action?
"Wigan Athletic have disregarded the ongoing investigation being undertaken by the FA, and any potential punishment Mackay may face, by taking the decision to appoint him. We need to see leadership, and a respect for the processes in place, shown by football club owners to demonstrate how seriously they take tackling issues of exclusion, prejudice and discrimination."
In spite of Whelan's claims regarding his club's position, Kick It Out called on the FA to clarify whether it is happy with Wigan's decision to appoint Mackay.
It added: "It remains to be seen if Wigan's position is one which the FA and all of football's so-called 'family' are happy with. The FA now needs to move swiftly to let everybody know whether they agree with Wigan's position or whether they will reinforce their own zero-tolerance stance on all such matters of equality and diversity.
"It is essential high levels of conduct are maintained by those in positions of power such as club owners, boardroom officials, chief executives, managers, coaches and players, and we expect The FA, the Premier League, the Football League, the Professional Footballers' Association and the League Managers Association to ensure these standards are upheld at all times."
For his part, Mackay attempted to clear the clouds which continue to hang over him and divulged that he will continue to attend an educational programme based around diversity.
"I made mistakes," he noted. "I'm absolutely not racist. I have taken on an educational programme in terms of diversity and that will be ongoing. I will continue to learn and educate myself going forward."
"I will continue to learn and educate myself going forward."
While Kick it Out were critical of the Lancashire club, local Wigan MP Lisa Nandy insisted she was satisfied that the grievances which she aired over Mackay in an open letter last week had been taken into account.
She was also invited to meet Mackay by Whelan, who reiterated he felt he had appointed the right figurehead for a team currently dwelling in the division's bottom three.
"I have invited our MP to any football match she wishes to come to," the Latics chairman stated.
"Come and watch the match, enjoy it, dine with us afterwards. Whether she'll take it up or not, I don't know. I hope she will and if she will I'll introduce her to Malky.
"She is invited, she is a friend. I've only met her once in my life and I'm looking forward to saying 'hello' to her again and I'm sure Malky would say 'hello' to her.
"All her comments I've taken on board and I respect them but I have to make the decisions which I think are in the best interest of Wigan Athletic and our town of Wigan. That is exactly what I've done in appointing Malky."
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