The Football Association has said it will not charge football manager Malky Mackay over a series of racist, sexist, homophobic and antisemitic messages.

The decision was taken after an 11-month investigation into tens of thousands of texts and emails between the former Cardiff City boss and his sporting director at the club, Iain Moody, which included an antisemitic reference to Jewish agent Phil Smith.

In a statement the FA said: “To date, the FA’s policy in cases such as this has been to not bring charges in respect of private communications sent with a legitimate expectation of privacy.

“Having assessed the evidence, and in light of the finding that the communications were sent with a legitimate expectation of privacy, the FA will not be taking disciplinary action against Iain Moody and Malky Mackay in connection with the content of those messages.”

Last August Mr Mackay was revealed to have sent a message to Mr Moody reading: “Go on, fat Phil. Nothing like a Jew that sees money slipping through his fingers.”

A separate message from the former Watford player saw him call Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv “the Jews”.

The FA also found that the pair had not engaged in discriminatory behaviour while at Cardiff, after speaking to “27 potential witnesses, based in the UK and overseas”.

The governing body reported that it had spoken to Mr Mackay and Mr Moody about the “inappropriateness” of their messages.

“Both individuals have acknowledged that such terms are not acceptable. Mr Mackay has also voluntarily undertaken equality and diversity training,” the FA said.

The Community Security Trust tweeted its response, writing: "We are disappointed that FA will take no action v Mackay/Moody, inconsistent with previous zero tolerance approach".

Simon Johnson, chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, also wrote of his disappointment, saying the decision "seems at odds with the positive interventions that the FA made in the cases of Dave Whelan and Mario Balotelli last season.

"If the FA is determined to have a zero tolerance attitude to racism, antisemitism, homophobia and discrimination of any kind, then it is not sustainable to create a distinction between private messages and public comments. I call upon the FA to review its disciplinary procedures and to rethink this inconsistent approach," Mr Johnson added.