RFC.L Share News (RFC)

Rangers International Football Club has received a demand from major shareholders Mike Ashley, the founder and executive chairman of Sports Direct and owner of Newcastle Football Club, for the removal of two executive members of the board.In a statement put out by Rangers on Wednesday, Ashley, who holds 5% of the voting rights through a vehicle called MASH Holdings, called for the removal of chief executive Graham Wallace and fellow executive Philip Nash as directors of the company.The board of the Glasgow club said it was checking the validity of the notice served by Ashley and said it was "united in its support of the executive team".If the board finds the request valid, it said in a statement that it intended to "seek to have such notice withdrawn in order to avoid the cost and disruption of an ad hoc general meeting", particularly as the club is scheduled to hold an annual general meeting soon.Ashley, who has bought the naming rights for Ibrox Stadium, has been told by the Scottish Football Association that he cannot buy a major stake in Rangers until he sells Newcastle.He recently bought shares from exiting investor Hargreave Hale to take his stake up to 8.92%, but did not take part in September's attempted £4m new share issue.Wallace has been criticised by supporters and was recently reported as having become "marginalised", with former Arsenal finance director Nash left to try and stem losses of £1m a month.