Cardiff owner Vincent Tan defends reporting of Mackay

Cardiff owner Vincent Tan told Sky Sports News HQ he had no choice but to report Malky Mackay to the FA over controversial text messages Mackay sent when he was Cardiff manager.

In an exclusive interview, Vincent Tan also insisted he did not deliberately sink Malky Mackay's hopes of moving to Crystal Palace, but does not have doubts about who is to blame for Cardiff's relegation from the Premier League last season.

"If the club discovers there is racism, you have to inform the FA, so we told him that since we sacked him we were not going to inform the FA and 'we'll leave it to you.' They didn't do it for three months, so we were advised to or the FA could fine us," said the Cardiff owner.

"It so happens that it timed when he was supposed to get a job with Crystal Palace. People said we timed it like that but we didn't, it was just too long.

"I had no sympathy for him after what he had done. He is the man responsible for us being relegated. £50m to buy players so that we don't get relegated. We spent more money than Hull and Palace and we got relegated. People will say we got relegated because I quarrelled with him, but I didn't. He didn't talk to me for a few months. I arranged to meet up with him, it was nothing personal, but he refused to meet me.

"I don't have a personal vendetta. I'm just doing what any normal person would do. I want to clear my image. I am not a madcap owner that the world thinks I am.

"Of course, all the pundits in Cardiff, they love him because he got Cardiff up after 51 years. They only think the manager got us up. They never think about the owner giving him money, that's not important. Maybe they should meet a poor owner then they would know. Try to get promoted without any money, then they would know."