Dave Whelan stands down as Wigan chairman, replaced by 23-year-old grandson

Whelan will remain as the club's owner, but will no longer be taking an active role in decision-making at the club after 20 years as chairman of Wigan.

In a statement on the Championship's club website, Whelan said: "The time has now come to hand over the reins. I am approaching 80 years old and spend an increasingly long time abroad, and cannot make it to games. It is a decision I have been mulling over for some years and I believe David is now ready.

"Contrary to some suggestions, there are no plans to sell the club, which will remain in family hands and I have every confidence that David, along with chief executive Jonathan Jackson, will lead us forwards with wisdom.

"In making this announcement, I would like to say huge thank you to the board of directors, all the staff at the club, and of course the wonderful supporters of Wigan Athletic, who have helped make the journey over the past 20 years such an exciting and memorable one.”

Whelan had been banned from football-related activities in December for six weeks over comments he made regarding Jewish and Chinese people, the Football Association announced.

Whelan accepted an aggravated misconduct charge and the 78-year-old was also fined £50,000, warned as to his future conduct and ordered to undertake a mandatory education programme.

He had described Chinese people as "chinks" and said Jewish people "chase money" in a newspaper interview. Whelan accepted the charge of improper conduct, but denied making racist comments.

He was defending the appointment of Malky Mackay as manager of Wigan when he made his remarks. Mackay was under investigation at the time for sending allegedly racist text messages when manager of Cardiff City.

Whelan, who will continue to own the club, explained his comments again to Sky Sports.

"They said that I wasn't a racist, but they banned me for six weeks from going to a football match, I couldn't really understand what all that was about," he said.

"I had no intention of insulting anyone, any race of people on the planet."

The club thanked Whelan for his contribution in helping Wigan rise from Division Three in 1997 to achieve promotion to the Premier League in 2005. They won the FA Cup with a 1-0 win over Manchester City in 2013, 43 years after Whelan suffered a career-ending broken leg in the 1960 FA Cup final playing for Blackburn.