FA ready to mete out severe punishment as game unites to condemn vile text messages sent by Malky Mackay and Iain Moody

• Malky Mackay and Iain Moody reported to FA after series of texts
• Sportsmail revealed pair exchanged racist, sexist and homophobic texts
• Thousands of emails and messages found during raid of Moody's home
• Moody has resigned from his post at Crystal Palace
• Mackay and Moody could receive lenghty suspension from the game
• FA investigation into texts and emails now in full swing 

Iain Moody was excited on Wednesday afternoon, and understandably so. Crystal Palace’s sporting director believed he was about to be reunited with his old friend Malky Mackay.

Moody had followed Mackay from Watford to Cardiff, and now Selhurst Park seemed set to offer an opportunity for the two men to work together again, recreating a partnership that had proved successful on the pitch during their tenure in South Wales.

But after Palace learned of the evidence of alleged racism, sexism and homophobia that had been passed to the FA by Cardiff’s lawyers, Mackay’s chances of succeeding Tony Pulis disappeared. And by Thursday lunchtime Moody had resigned, with Palace issuing a short, sharp statement.

Mackay issued an apology on Thursday night for his part in the text and email exchanges that have shocked football to its core. But the statement seems unlikely to draw a line under the affair. Mackay’s apology, issued by the League Managers Association, prompted an angry response because of the use of the phrase ‘friendly text message banter’.

Judging from the noises emanating from the FA on Thursday, the pair seem likely to receive further censure.

Football’s governing body failed to act against Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore, who was engulfed by a sexist emails storm earlier this year, and the Kick It Out campaigner and former footballer Paul Elliott, who was damaged by - but never charged over - his use of the n-word in a text.

However, it is understood Scudamore and Elliott were considered to have acted in private, while Moody and Mackay’s exchanges went to a much wider audience.

The fact that the two men are out of work may not exempt them from punishment, either. If it is concluded that a fine and a ban are appropriate, such verdicts could be held in abeyance until one or both return to work.

That, of course, could prove a serious problem if the two men end up receiving lengthy suspensions. It would be unprecedented in football to place a would-be manager or administrator in the position of having a ban hanging over him, even as he is trying to persuade clubs to employ him.

The FA investigation is now in full swing and Sportsmail understands there could be further unsavoury evidence in text messages recovered by Cardiff’s lawyers. Until now the information passed to the FA in two letters concerns only the texts detailed in Sportsmail’s exclusive report yesterday.

Mackay sent out confused messages on Thursday. In the early evening, his agent told Sky Sports News that he was shocked by the events of the previous 24 hours and intimated that he would fight the allegations. Later in the evening, he issued his apology through the LMA.

Others were more forthright and challenged football’s authorities to take a concerted stance against bigotry. The chairman of Kick It Out, Lord Ouseley, called for the ‘appropriate action’ to be taken. ‘These revelations are further confirmation of how football is tainted with racism, sexism, homophobia and anti-Semitism, and the culture which continues to exist throughout the game and in wider society,’ he said.

‘The reality is that these views are most dangerously held by those people in positions of power, and the football establishment knows and condones it.

‘What you see at face value is not always reflective of the attitudes which are actually held deep down. It’s easy to present yourself as being reasonable and fair, and to behave in ways that hide prejudice and bias. However, any in-depth analysis of hidden views would be likely to reveal otherwise. That is what makes it difficult to eradicate such prejudices, bigotry and even hatred.

‘This familiar scenario acts as a challenge to the leadership of football that cannot be shirked again. The governing bodies and the clubs must denounce such attitudes prevalent in the game, and take the appropriate action.

‘If these types of exchanges made privately make it into the public eye, the individuals concerned must accept the full consequences.’

His views were echoed by former professional Jason Roberts, who has written on these pages. ‘The truth is, nothing in the transcripts of the alleged exchanges surprised me,’ he said. ‘In my mind this is how football talks in private, and more importantly, it is how it behaves in public.’

Phil Smith, the agent who was the subject of anti-Semitism in one of the texts, was deeply offended. ‘To say it’s good to see a Jew suffer, that’s not good,’ he said.

Twitter might have made uncomfortable reading for Mackay yesterday. One player who served under him at Cardiff, Ibrahim Farah, responded to the Sportsmail report by posting a number of tweets before then deleting them.

He suggested he has experience of the unsavoury side of Mackay, adding: ‘Wish the people at Cardiff City had seen it sooner.’

Farah said: ‘Malky Mackay always use to call me a wee Egyptian and laugh his head off. No one knows what happens behind the scenes in football clubs. At the time when you’re a young pro, no one will listen. So I chose to keep my mouth shut.’

A further tweet said: ‘Oxford away a young Somali boy was at the gates and Malky shouted look it’s Ibby’s brother.’

He then claimed Mackay started laughing with his coaching staff and added: ‘I’m not Egyptian. I’m Welsh and my parents are from Somalia’.

Farah, a 22-year-old now playing at Carmarthen, was unavailable for further comment yesterday, while Cardiff also refused to comment on his claims.

Mackay’s apology was calculated to distance himself from some of the most odious remarks in the text scandal, and to start the rehabilitation of a man who has achieved so much as a footballer and a manager.

However, the FA mood music on Thursday night suggested they are ready to tackle the affair head on.

It may be a long time before either Mackay or Moody, two men who have become pariahs over the past days, are able to again work in an industry that has offered opportunity and riches to young men regardless of their background.

LMA STATEMENT: MALKY MACKAY

The LMA wish to clarify the position in relation to recent reports and speculation regarding matters alleged to have arisen during Malky Mackay’s time at Cardiff City FC.

In the course of a search by the Club in early 2014 of 10,000 private text messages sent to and from another member of staff during Mr Mackay’s employment at Cardiff, in relation to other matters, it emerged that Malky had, it seems, sent a couple of one line texts that were, with the benefit of hindsight, very regrettable and disrespectful of other cultures. These were two text messages sent in private at a time Malky felt under great pressure and when he was letting off steam to a friend during some friendly text message banter. That said, Malky believes he could and should have conducted himself better on these two isolated occasions. The precise details need to remain private for the time being until any FA process is complete.

The LMA does not condone in any way any potential breach of equal opportunities laws but would also point out that out of over 10,000 text messages and 70,000 documents produced over a long period of time it may not be a complete surprise that some inappropriate comments can sometimes be made by employees, like Malky, working under great pressure in highly charged situations. If Malky has caused any offence by these two isolated matters he would, however, wish to sincerely apologise.

Malky finds it strange that these matters were only raised with the FA and in the media now, 8 months after his employment ended and the day before he was reported as being offered the opportunity to become manager of Crystal Palace FC.

Malky is also very concerned about seriously inaccurate and misleading reports of his alleged involvement in these matters in the media. It has never been alleged that he wrote any homophobic or sexist messages and he has confirmed that he did not do so. Further, there are incorrect and damaging suggestions that he sent a whole host of offensive and unpleasant messages that are simply not true and which give a grossly distorted and unfair view of Malky’s involvement in this matter. Malky looks forward to matters being put straight in due course, following any investigation of this matter.

Malky cannot of course comment on the nature of any conduct or communications alleged to have been made by others.

Malky has said that he will be fully co-operating with any FA investigation and that he looks forward to putting the record straight thereafter.