Wigan owner Dave Whelan has been in some hot water recently after being accused of making anti-Semitic comments in an interview with the Guardian, as well as accusations of racism from Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan around the employment of Malky Mackay as Wigan manager.
Someone in that position would surely wish to keep their head down and maintain a low profile, but not Dave Whelan.
In an effort to clear-up the mess he had made previously, Whelan rambled on about his Jewish friends in a manner that is strikingly similar to that one elderly relative who says inappropriate things at family events after they have had a few brandys.
I apologise profusely to anyone who has taken offence because I would never offend the Jewish community under any circumstances. I have nothing but respect for them. They’re hard-working people, they’re honest people. They fight for what they believe in. There’s nobody could knock the Jewish community. For them to accuse me of that, it hurts me a lot. Never have I made anti-Jewish comments. We have always, always respected what the Jewish people did, especially through the war. We’ve always respected how those Jewish [people] stood up to every single thing they were put through, torture, horrendous. And I have nothing but the highest regard and respect for the Jewish people. I wouldn’t like to mention any one of them [but] please take it I have a lot of Jewish friends. I bet there are a dozen who have got apartments in Majorca, where I am. And so many Jewish people go to Barbados at Christmas. That’s when I go. I see a lot of them in the Lone Star, in restaurants. I play golf with a few of them. I don’t want to mention any particular names because I don’t want to pull their names into it. It would be unfair of me because they are good friends. They may object to me putting them in a newspaper or in publicity or whatever.
And not satisfied to leave it there, Whelan left one last nugget of wisdom for us all:
When I was growing up we used to call the Chinese ‘chingalings’. We weren’t being [disrespectful]. We used to say, ‘we’re going to eat in chingalings’.
The only surprise is that he didn't manage to mention how he broke his leg in an FA Cup final.
via WhoAteAllThePies.
