The£50 million sale - up to 20.5 million shares - will reduce his family's holding in the company by about 29 per cent.
According to the company: 'Whelan remains committed to the long-term future of JJB Sports and is selling his shares for personal financial reasons.' He will not be making further disposals of his shares for at least 12 months.
The share sale will be handled by UBS Investment Bank.
Seymour Pierce analyst Richard Ratner said: 'We are not surprised that Whelan is taking advantage of the rise in the share price to reduce his holding.
'JJB is in the commodity area of sports retailing and, having been under pressure from Sportsworld for the past three years, has had a better year as Mike Ashley appears to have lessened the pressure. This is because he [Ashley] is concentrating on other things - a potential flotation and his stake in Blacks Leisure.'
However, Ratner added that pressure from Ashley is likely to pick up, putting a further strain on JJB's margins.
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