Tottenham ‘Sue’ Man Utd Co-Owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe For Large Sum

Not for the first time, Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS are at risk of striking a costly sponsorship agreement.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is the subject of a legal battle with Tottenham Hotspur. / IMAGO/PA Images

Tottenham Hotspur are demanding more than £11 million ($15.1 million) from Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS after a breach of sponsorship contract, multiple reports have claimed.

The Manchester United minority shareholder founded INEOS in 1998, building the chemical company into sprawling corporation which has funded his investment into various sports. In 2022, Ratcliffe’s INEOS Automotive Limited signed a five-year agreement with Spurs to promote the INEOS Grenadier as their “official 4x4 vehicle partner.”

INEOS prematurely terminated that contract in late 2024, prompting Spurs to take legal action against Ratcliffe. The legal publication The Lawyer was the first to claim that Tottenham were demanding £11.1 million from INEOS. This is billed as recompense for INEOS failing to meet certain payments of a deal which still had two years left to run.

Daniel Levy got the better of Sir Jim Ratcliffe in the Europa League final. / IMAGO/Gonzales Photo

Spurs are thought to be demanding at least £5,275,974 ($7.2 million) in damages as well as interest and “further or other relief as the court thinks fit.”

An INEOS spokesperson told The Telegraph: “Ineos Automotive was a partner of Tottenham Hotspur from 2022, expanding on a partnership agreement that Ineos Group had in place with the club since 2020. We had a contractual right to terminate our partnership contract and in December 2024 exercised that right.”

This is not the first cost-cutting measure Ratcliffe has undertaken. Aside from the various penny-pinching processes which have rained down upon the unwitting non-playing staff members at Manchester United, with everything from complimentary tickets to free breakfast bars cut at Old Trafford, INEOS have also been engaged in a sponsorship dispute with New Zealand’s rugby union team.

The All Blacks sued INEOS for trying to prematurely back out of their own shirt deal earlier this year. The two parties managed to reach a settlement out of court, which may have to be the route taken with Spurs.

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