Tom Ilube has stepped down as Rugby Football Union chairman, pre-empting the possibility of a grassroots rebellion forcing him out over the scale of the organisation’s executive bonuses.

Ilube, who was appointed in August 2021, faced the possibility of a vote of no-confidence in his leadership as a motion to sack him gathered support among England’s community clubs.

The RFU chairman is the only permanent member of the body’s remuneration committee which oversees the pay awarded to all employees on a basic salary of more than £180,000 a year.

“I have decided to step down from my role as chair of the RFU as recent events have become a distraction from the game but will stay on to ensure a smooth transition to a new chair as soon as one is in place,” said Ilube.

Several newspapers have reported that former World Rugby chair Bill Beaumont, a Grand Slam-winning England captain in his playing days, could return to the RFU in an interim role., external

The RFU’s latest accounts, published in November, revealed chief executive Bill Sweeney had been paid a total of £1.1m despite the organisation posting record losses.

Sweeney was paid only £430,000 in 2020 – his first full year in the role – when he took a voluntary 20% pay cut for three months and opted not to take a bonus to limit financial pressure during the pandemic.

However, a three-year incentive plan put in place in 2021, which offered the possibility of large rewards if the RFU’s performance hit certain goals, has sent his pay soaring to seven figures.

The RFU’s record losses came just two months after the RFU announced the latest round of redundancies.

The RFU Council – which represents the national game to the union’s executive – has instigated an “immediate, independent review” into the incentive plan which it said had done “reputational damage to the sport over the past month”.

“I’m pleased that an independent review of the LTIP (long-term incentive plan) scheme has been commissioned and look forward to its findings once completed,” added Ilube.

“It has been an honour to chair the RFU and I look forward to once again enjoying the game that I grew up with from the touchline and watching it grow.”

Ilube and Sweeney met RFU president Rob Udwin on Thursday to “agree a way forward”.

In an email to councillors on Friday – seen by BBC Sport – Udwin said he was “sorry it had come to this” regarding Ilube’s resignation, adding that the crisis was a “fast-moving situation”.

Proposers of a motion to remove Ilube and Sweeney have claimed they have enough support to force a vote of no confidence by the end of February.

A two-thirds majority would have been required to force Ilube from his role and will be needed to request the directors dismiss Sweeney.

BBC rugby union correspondent Chris Jones

Given the backlash from various parts of the game since the release of the RFU annual report almost four weeks ago, Ilube’s position had been under scrutiny to the point of being untenable.

Ilube joined the union to much fanfare in 2021 given his highly impressive CV but he ended up being fairly inconspicuous in the role. It’s hard to remember an RFU chair who kept such a low public profile.

There is an RFU board meeting on Friday where the next steps of the process will be discussed, with CEO Bill Sweeney’s position still under the microscope.