Wigan chairman Dave Whelan is facing the likelihood of a ban from the Football Association after accepting a misconduct charge yesterday over comments he made regarding Jewish and Chinese people.

Whelan, 78, will be writing a letter in mitigation to the FA after requesting a non-personal hearing which will decide on the sanction.

He has admitted an aggravated misconduct charge after a newspaper interview defending his decision to appoint Malky Mackay as the club’s new manager. Mackay is the subject of an investigation into alleged racist and anti-semitic texts sent while he was in charge of Cardiff.

Whelan had said last month that it was “nothing” to call a Chinese person a “chink” and stated: “Jewish people do chase money more than everybody else,” but insists he is not a racist.