Mackay faces 'sexist, racist, homophobic' text investigation

Malky Mackay will not be taking over as manager of Crystal Palace after becoming the subject of an FA investigation into extraordinary claims of misconduct made against him by his former club, Cardiff.

Mackay and ex-Cardiff colleague Ian Moody, himself now employed by Palace, are accused of sending a welter of "sexist, racist and homophobic" texts in a dossier compiled by Bluebirds owner Vincent Tan.

The messages were discovered in a raid on Moody's home in south London earlier this year, says the Daily Mail, which broke the story. Cardiff had obtained a warrant to search the address as part of their investigation into Mackay and Moody's dealings in the transfer market while at the Welsh club.

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"The dossier is believed to include details of their transfer dealings and thousands of text messages and emails which are explicit and offensive, including one about South Korean international Kim Bo-Kyung which refers to him as a 'fkn chinky'," reports the Daily Telegraph.

"Moody is on the verge of leaving Palace after the revelations, with sources describing his position as technical director as 'untenable', while Mackay's hopes of landing the job as manager appear over," says the paper.

Other messages uncovered in the investigation describe an official at another club as "a gay snake", include disparaging remarks about Jewish football agent Phil Hall and another female agent. There are also references to the number of black players in the game.

Moody and Mackay worked together at Cardiff, but both left under a cloud last season.

"The relationship between the Cardiff owner, Vincent Tan, and his former manager and sporting director broke down spectacularly following promotion to the Premier League, with Moody and Mackay dismissed before the mid-point of last season," reports The Times. "The pair have consistently and strenuously denied any wrongdoing during their time with City."

But despite the incendiary nature of the allegations the Telegraph says the pair may escape punishment from the FA because the complaints relate to private messages.

"There is nothing in the FA's rules on discrimination exempting private correspondence but it has controversially adopted a policy of not prosecuting such cases," explains the paper. "That policy helped Richard Scudamore avoid a charge at the end of last season over sexist e-mails exchanged by the Premier League chief executive."

Moody and Mackay will also escape police action unless one of the people identified in the messages makes a complaint.