Two of the senior executives of Sports Direct, which was recently promoted as the FTSE 100 retailer, have sold around 950,000 under a new bonus scheme.

Chief executive Dave Forsey and finance director Bob Mellors sold 950,000 out of the total one million shares that were bought by them under the scheme. They sold the shares of the leading retailer at the rate of 680p. The share sale raised around £6.5 million each for the two executives and will be added to their £150,000 annual salaries.

The bonus share scheme allowed the company's 3,000 full-time staff, an opportunity to even triple their salaries if performance criteria are met. Performance criteria were met earlier this year and staff was given free shares in August and many of them cashed it immediately. However, the company faced criticism after it was revealed that the remaining 21,000 employees are on zero-hours contracts.

Sports Direct is now the biggest sporting retailer in the UK and is owned by billionaire Mike Ashley. The company rose to be included among the FTSE 100 after its shares almost doubled in the previous year.