Tottenham Take Legal Action Against Sir Jim Ratcliffe & INEOS | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur have started legal proceedings against INEOS, the company owned by Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, over an alleged breach of a sponsorship contract.

Spurs entered into a deal with INEOS back in 2022, signing a five-year contract to make INEOS Grenadier their 4×4 vehicle partner.

INEOS, which oversaw the minority takeover of United three years later, terminated their agreement with Spurs in late 2024, much to the frustration of the London side.

Court records show Spurs have now filed a claim with London Commercial Court as they seek to challenge INEOS’s ability to walk away from their commitments while their contract with Spurs still had two years left to run.

“INEOS Automotive has been a partner of Tottenham Hotspur since 2022, taking on a partnership agreement that INEOS Group had in place with the club since 2020,” an INEOS spokesperson told Sky Sports News.

Ratcliffe met Spurs chairman Daniel Levy at the Europa League final. / IMAGO/Sportimage

“We have a contractual right to terminate our partnership contract and in December 2024 exercised that right.”

INEOS has done away with a number of sports sponsorship deals since Ratcliffe’s purchase of United.

Agreements with Sir Ben Ainslie’s sailing team and the New Zealand rugby team, with the latter ultimately reaching an agreement with INEOS after initially taking legal action over an alleged breach of contract.

Officials from the petrochemicals company have made no secret of the need to cut costs, previously hitting out at what was described as the “deindustrialisation” of Europe, with that mentality also bleeding over into Ratcliffe’s dealings at United.

Ratcliffe has come under fire for cost-cutting measures, which have included multiple rounds of significant redundancies among non-playing staff.

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