County boss Mackay merits a second chance, says top lawyer

ONE of Scotland’s leading anti-racism campaigners last night insisted that new Ross County boss Malky Mackay deserves a ‘second chance’ to prove himself a changed man. Glasgow lawyer Aamer Anwar, a prominent figure in the fight against bigotry and discrimination, represented Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara after he was racially abused by Slavia Prague defender Ondrej Kudela. While insisting that former SFA performance director Mackay should be subject to scrutiny, Anwar told Sportsmail that he believes in everyone’s potential to be reformed.

Following his dismissal by Cardiff City in 2013, Mackay was found to have sent racist, sexist, anti-Semitic and homophobic texts to members of staff. He has since undergone equality and diversity training, earning support from campaigners as he returned to football — first with Wigan and then, until November last year, as SFA performance director. But his appointment as Staggies boss earlier this week provoked a backlash among some sections of the County support, with some claiming he should never be allowed to work in frontline football again. Anwar believes that would be going too far, declaring: ‘At the end of the day, everybody deserves to have a second chance. ‘I’m not one of those who believes that people can’t change. People can change, of course they can. I completely agree that they can change if they want. ‘As I’ve argued repeatedly, people can be racist and say racist things — that doesn’t mean that they have to be racist their whole lives. ‘If that was the case, we might as well all give up and forget about trying to educate young people, as well as older people. ‘So, if an individual says he has changed and would not conduct himself in such a manner again, people should give him a second chance. ‘But obviously we’ll all be watching very closely to see that there isn’t any repeat of such behaviour in the future.’ At his unveiling on Wednesday, Mackay pleaded with supporters to give him a chance to prove himself — and said he works every day to become a better person.