Soccer Club Head Apologizes for Anti-Semitic Comments
November 21, 2014An English football (soccer) club and anti-Semitism have been linked yet again Thursday, after Wigan F.C. head Dave Whelan was forced to apologize for making offensive comments against Jews.
“The Jews don’t like losing money,” Whelan stated in an interview with the British Guardian. “Nobody likes losing money.”
“Do you think Jewish people chase money a little bit more than we do?” Whelan continued. “I think they are very shrewd people. It’s telling the truth. Jewish people love money, English people love money; we all love money.”
Whelan also made offensive comments against the Chinese, using the racial slur “chink” and claiming that doing so is the norm.
“If any Englishman said he has never called a Chinaman a ‘chink’ he is lying,” Whelan reportedly said. “There is nothing bad about doing that. It’s like calling the British Brits or the Irish paddies.”
The football club owner apologized in remarks on BBC later Thursday, claiming that he did not intentionally say anything offensive.
“All I was trying to say was that Jewish people are very similar to the English people in the desire to work hard and get money,” he told BBC Sport‘s David Ornstein. “I didn’t think that I did anything wrong in that.”
“There are all kinds of names given to people, given to the English, to the Scottish, to the Welsh, to the Irish, to the Chinese,” Whelan said.
“People use these words a lot in common conversations – a lot of this talk goes on all around the world and people accept it and take because I don’t think that there is an insult meant.”
The scandal surfaces amid a different brouhaha: the decision to hire new manager Malky Mackay, who allegedly made similar comments in a series of controversial text messages being investigated by the Football Association (FA).
But Whelan’s comments, apparently an attempt to downplay the remarks, caused more of a media furor than the original texts themselves.
Meanwhile, the FA announced that an investigation into Mackay – despite the appointment – is still ongoing.
“We wish to make it clear that the FA investigation into the conduct of Malky Mackay remains ongoing and no assurances have been given by the FA as to the outcome of this case,” it announced Thursday. “The FA did not come into possession of the relevant evidence relating to the messages until mid-October. “
“The FA is still investigating whether these messages indicate a culture in which other acts of a discriminatory nature may have taken place,” it continued. “This process inevitably takes time.”
This is not the first time a UK football club has been linked to anti-Semitism. In September, the Liverpool FC pulled a Rosh Hashanah tweet after it received numerous anti-Semitic responses.
One month earlier, Gaelic football star Tommy McGuigan became the subject of police investigation after he urged fans to “punch Jews in the nose.”
Similar posts
-
Israel Is Held To A Higher Standard Than Any Country
April 25, 2024In the intricate tapestry of global affairs, one nation stands out for enduring scrutiny and condem...
-
Israel Has The Most Moral Military In The World
April 10, 2024In the heart of a region often riddled with conflict, Israel stands out not only for its technologi...
-
The Resilience of the Israeli People
April 2, 2024Visitors from around the world have seen Hamas's October 7th Massacre's destruction in southern Isr...
-
Israel: Small Size, Big Impact
March 21, 2024Nestled along the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea, Israel is a land of immense historical sig...
-
Israelis Are Fighting For Their Lives
February 21, 2024By Jonathan S. Tobin The world looks a lot different from Kibbutz Kfar Aza than it does in the U...
-
Over 2 Million Arabs Live In Israel
January 23, 2024In the complex landscape of the Middle East, where diverse cultures and identities intersect, Israe...
-
'Fauda' Star Idan Amedi Injured Fighting in Gaza
January 8, 2024Despite the severity of his injuries, Amedi's father assured Israeli news channels that his life is...
-
Israel Is A Great Country To Live In
December 28, 2023Nestled at the crossroads of the Middle East, Israel stands as a vibrant and dynamic nation, offeri...