Wigan’s Dave Whelan completes FA’ anti-racism training

by Stephen Oryszczuk

Former Wigan Athletic chairman has completed a mandatory education course as part of his sanction for discrimination, following his stereotyping of Jews earlier last year.

The half-day course, held in Wigan, was run by the Football Association, which fined the 78-year old £50,000 in December and banned him from football-related activity for six weeks.

The FA’s Disciplinary Committee had ordered the punitive action, which included this week’s course, after Whelan said in an interview that “Jewish people chase money more than everybody else”.

At the time, Whelan had been trying to defend the club’s then-manager Malky Mackay, who had been sacked by another club a year earlier for making racist remarks against Jews, Asians and Blacks on his club-owned mobile phone.

Whelan’s statements were roundly condemned by West Ham co-chairman David Gold and former FA executive Simon Johnson, both of whom are Jewish.

In November, the FA charged Whelan with an aggravated breach of FA Rule E3 [2] as his comments had included “a reference to ethnic origin and/or race and/or nationality and/or religion or belief,” and concluded in December, noting that the Disciplinary Panel did not believe Whelan to be a racist.

Whelan, who started life as a market trader and ended up owning chains of sports shops and fitness centres, voluntarily resigned the Wigan chairmanship in March, handing over to his grandson after 20 years in the job.