Whelan charged by FA with aggravated breach of its rules

Dave Whelan has been charged by the Football Association with an aggravated breach of its rules, after his comments about Jewish and Chinese people, the FA has announced.

The Wigan chairman apologised for the comments and frimly denied being racist or anti-Semetic, while suggesting he was misquoted in an interview with The Guardian.

And Whelan claimed he would resign as the club’s chairman if the FA decided to punish him for the comments.

An FA statement read: "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.

"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."