News
Kick It Out head, Lord Ouseley, attacks FA’s decision not to act over Malky Mackay texts
July 21, 2015 12:00
The head of football anti-racism group Kick It Out has condemned the Football Association’s decision not to charge manager Malky Mackay over a series of racist, sexist, homophobic and antisemitic messages.
Lord Ouseley said the matter should not be dismissed simply because the texts were regarded as private.
The FA’s decision was taken after an 11-month investigation into tens of thousands of texts and emails between the former Cardiff City boss and his sporting director at the club, Iain Moody, which included an antisemitic reference to Jewish agent Phil Smith.
Last August Mr Mackay was revealed to have sent a message to Mr Moody reading: “Go on, fat Phil. Nothing like a Jew that sees money slipping through his fingers.”
In a separate message, Mr Mackay referred to Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv as “the Jews”.
In a statement, the Football Association said its policy to date “has been to not bring charges in respect of private communications sent with a legitimate expectation of privacy,” and that the pair’s messages fell under that category.
However, the FA emphasised that it had spoken to Mr Mackay and Mr Moody about the “inappropriateness” of their messages, and that both had accepted “that such terms are not acceptable.”
Lord Herman Ouseley, chair of Kick It Out, criticised the decision, writing on the organisation’s website that “private information that becomes public cannot simply be dismissed if it involves people in the game, who have contact, as part of their jobs or status, with people from other backgrounds, especially if there is potential for discriminatory treatment.”
He said that football’s governing body has, in recent years, shown “the appetite and determination to conduct thorough and effective investigations into allegations of discriminatory conduct,” but only when offences were committed in the public sphere.
Lord Ouseley called for other bodies to take responsibility for disciplinary issues, saying: “It should not only be the FA. In most cases the employer is the football club and surely it is there, where the action should be initiated.
“All the other bodies in football, such as the leagues, the clubs, the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) and the League Managers Association (LMA) and others shy away from making decisions, which are theirs, as employers and as integrity standard bearers, relying instead on the FA to bail them out.”
Mr Mackay was reportedly set to be appointed manager of Premier League side Crystal Palace before his former club Cardiff sent a dossier detailing the offensive messages to the FA. He was subsequently hired by Wigan Athletic.
Board of Deputies president Jonathan Arkush spoke of his disappointment with the FA’s decision, saying: “This lack of action, from a body which has pledged itself to take a hard line on racism is both disappointing and surprising, particularly given the tough action they have taken in recent instances and Mackay’s own admission that the sentiments expressed in these texts were unacceptable. We will certainly be taking the matter up with the FA.”
The Community Security Trust tweeted: "We are disappointed that FA will take no action v Mackay/Moody, inconsistent with previous zero tolerance approach".
Simon Johnson, chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, said the decision "seems at odds with the positive interventions that the FA made in the cases of Dave Whelan and Mario Balotelli last season.
"If the FA is determined to have a zero tolerance attitude to racism, antisemitism, homophobia and discrimination of any kind, then it is not sustainable to create a distinction between private messages and public comments. I call upon the FA to review its disciplinary procedures and to rethink this inconsistent approach," Mr Johnson added.
To get more news, click here to sign up for our free daily newsletter.