Wigan Athletic chairman Dave Whelan says he will resign if the English FA find him guilty of racism over comments he made defending the appointment of controversial manager Malky Mackay.
Whelan was accused of anti-Semitism and condoning racism when speaking to the Guardian newspaper last week.
The FA wrote to Whelan, giving him three days to respond before deciding what action to take.
“Should they even suggest I’m guilty I would immediately resign,” Whelan told ITV News.
“I’m absolutely anti-racist, always have been, always will be.”
Dortmund’s Reus out for rest of year
Borussia Dortmund winger Marco Reus has been ruled out for the rest of the year after tearing ligaments in his right ankle during Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Paderborn, the club said.
Dortmund said in a statement tests showed the extent of the injury which would keep the 25-year-old sidelined at least until the start of their winter training camp in January.
The Germany international had made his comeback on Saturday following another ankle injury and scored for a 2-0 lead on the stroke of half-time.
But he had to be taken off on a stretcher after a rough challenge by former Dortmund player Marvin Bakalorz.
Ronaldo has La Liga record in his sights
While Barcelona forward Lionel Messi was busy breaking the all-time La Liga scoring record on Saturday, Cristiano Ronaldo took a step closer to smashing the best for a single season of 50 goals also held by his Argentine rival.
Ronaldo struck twice in a 4-0 win for leaders Real Madrid at Eibar and the Portugal forward has now scored an incredible 20 goals in 11 appearances in Spain’s top flight this term.
If the World Player of the Year continues at his current pace, his tally for the season will be more than 60, comfortably surpassing Messi’s record set in 2011-12.
The 29-year-old Ronaldo is the first player to reach 20 goals in the opening 12 rounds of La Liga.
Match suspended after racist insults
San Marcos de Arica striker Emilio Renteria was, for the second time in two weeks, the target of Chilean fans’ racist insults, this time prompting the referee to suspend a match against Deportes Iquique on Saturday.
Arica led 1-0 thanks to a Renteria header when referee Julio Bascunan suspended the match near the 70-minute mark due to Iquique fans’ repeated racist abuse.
Deportes Iquique, on its Twitter account, seemed to justify its fans’ behaviour, saying “Renteria celebrated the goal in front of Iquique fans,” adding that it was after this that “he was insulted and the game was suspended.”
Mourinho: Don’t make it personal
Jose Mourinho insists Chelsea versus Schalke tomorrow should not be billed as a clash between him and his opposite number Roberto Di Matteo.
Di Matteo oversaw Chelsea’s miraculous Champions League triumph in 2012 and, having last month taken his first job since his Stamford Bridge sacking, now stands in the way of his former club as they attempt to secure top spot in Group G.
“I don’t play against him,” the Portuguese said of the Schalke boss, who also shone for Chelsea as a player.
“If I play against him, he wins because he plays better than me.
“Unless I am fitter, which I don’t know, but normally he wins because he is much better than me.”
Enrique ‘honoured’ to coach Messi
Barcelona boss Luis Enrique says he is honoured to be Lionel Messi’s coach after the Argentinian became the top goalscorer in Primera Division history on Saturday night.
Messi bagged a treble to help Enrique’s side complete a 5-1 win over Sevilla at the Nou Camp, as the forward overtook Telmo Zarra’s scoring record with his 253rd goal in his 289th appearance.
“I have never seen a player like Messi,” Enrique said in his post-match press conference.
“I feel lucky to be his manager. Nobody can be compared to him. He’s one-of-a-kind and we’ll never see anyone like him ever again and we are privileged to have him and be able to watch him.”
Moyes upbeat despite tepid draw
David Moyes was disappointed with the second-half performance of his Real Sociedad players in Saturday night’s drab 0-0 draw at Deportivo La Coruna but the Scot said he nonetheless enjoyed his La Liga coaching debut.
“I really enjoyed it, I was really looking forward to managing in La Liga,” Moyes, who took over this month at San Sebastian-based Sociedad, said.
“I was disappointed with the second half,” he added.
“I thought we had done enough in the first half to be in the lead but we started the second half slowly and we gave away possession far too easily and too many times.”