Mike Ashley admits he was behind video that brought down JD Sports chair

Sports Direct founder says people in his employ recorded footage of Peter Cowgill meeting another retail boss

The Sports Direct founder, Mike Ashley, has admitted to arranging surveillance footage that brought down his rival Peter Cowgill, the former JD Sports chair.

Cowgill was secretly filmed in 2021 in a car talking with the Footasylum boss Barry Bown. JD Sports was in the process of acquiring the trainer retailer at the time and the two companies were not allowed to share commercially sensitive information.