Just more than half of Scottish Championship side Rangers' shareholders "have voted against the immediate repayment" of a £5M ($7.8M) loan provided by shareholder Mike Ashley, according to the BBC. The EPL side Newcastle owner, who also has a 9% stake in Rangers, called Friday's extraordinary meeting at Ibrox. Meanwhile, shareholders voted in favor of a board resolution to "renegotiate existing retail agreements with Ashley." His Sports Direct firm currently owns 75% of the club's retail operation. This will be adjusted down to 49% upon repayment of the loan and Ashley had insisted "this was the best way" for the club to restore some of its retail income. However, Rangers' board "had asked shareholders to reject Ashley's resolution and proposed the renegotiation of the commercial deal." Of the 78% of shareholders who took part, 53.64% voted against Ashley's request and 62.5% voted in favor of the board's resolution (BBC, 6/16). STV reported the Rangers board urged supporters to "trust" it after admitting the club is "not ready to repay the loan." Ahead of the meeting, Sports Direct won an injunction against the Ibrox club to "prevent a motion against Rangers preventing confidential information being revealed at the EGM." Previously Rangers said that "they wanted to forensically examine all contracts with Ashley's company before even considering repaying the money" (STV, 6/16).
