London, Nov 28 (IANS): Wigan Athletic chairman Dave Whelan has been charged by the Football Association (FA) over comments he made about Jewish and Chinese people in an interview.

It is alleged that his original statements were "abusive and/or insulting and/or constitute improper conduct and/or bring the game into disrepute", reports Xinhua.

Whelan made the comments to the Guardian while defending his decision to appoint Malky Mackay as Wigan manager, who is still being investigated by the FA over claims the Scot sent texts of a homophobic, racist and sexist nature while in charge at Cardiff.

The charge includes an alleged "aggravated breach" of FA Rule E3 as Whelan's comments included "a reference to ethnic origin and/or race and/or nationality and/or religion or belief".

Whelan reportedly said "Jewish people chase money more than everybody else" and that he also defended Mackay's use of the term "chink" to describe a Chinese person.