Mike Ashley, the billionaire founder and retail tycoon who founded Sports Direct, has told the board of the sportswear chain that he will withdraw his name from its controversial bonus scheme.

Despite shareholders narrowly voting earlier this month to approve the remuneration plan - following numerous failed attempts by the board to give the Executive Deputy Chairman a bonus - Ashley has "informed the board that he does not wish to be awarded any shares under the 2015 bonus share scheme", Sports Direct said.

The scheme, which was met with fierce opposition from shareholder lobby groups, was approved by 60% of votes cast on July 2nd. It involves giving 25m free shares worth £180m to the retailer's 3,000 permanent staff, including Ashley, if the company doubles profits by 2019.

However, the firm did not specify how many of these 25m shares would be given to Ashley.

According to Sports Direct, Ashley also said that, following his withdrawal from the scheme, he doesn't expect any other share-based incentive scheme to be proposed to shareholders in relation to his role at Sports Direct.

"Mike remains fully committed to achieving the scheme's stretch targets," said Non-Executive Chairman Keith Hellawell in a statement on Wednesday.

"Regarding the allocation of shares, Mike's focus is on ensuring that the scheme aligns all employees to achieve the company's objectives. Following recent unhelpful speculation surrounding his potential allocation, he is determined to ensure that there is the maximum number of shares available for the eligible employees."

BC

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