Daniel Levy vs Sir Jim Ratcliffe! Tottenham suing INEOS after Man Utd co-owner's firm quit sponsorship contract

Tottenham's lawyers filed a lawsuit on Thursday against INEOS Automotive as a consequence of the firm exiting a sponsorship agreement with the club three years into the five-year deal. According to The Telegraph, the multi-million pound deal was signed in December 2022 to promote the Ineos Grenadier car as Spurs' official 4x4 vehicle partner. INEOS had held talks over the last few months over withdrawing from the deal but failed to come to an amicable agreement, leading to the lawsuit.

Spurs are not the only team to have been left angry over INEOS withdrawing from a sponsorship deal. The firm stopped sponsoring Sir Ben Ainslie's sailing team earlier this year and pulled out of a deal with the All Blacks rugby team. The All Blacks also took legal action against Ratcliffe's firm but withdrew it after a deal was reached.

INEOS explained in a statement to The Telegraph that the firm had a contractual right to terminate the partnership and did so in December 2024.

"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.

"Like any business, we have to be diligent in how we operate and where we invest marketing budgets. It’s completely normal for partnerships to be reviewed on a regular basis, and we’ve decided that the partnership wasn’t working out for us. We have the right to terminate the partnership."

The legal dispute between Tottenham and INEOS comes less than a month after Spurs beat United in the Europa League final to earn qualification for the Champions League, worth an estimated £100m ($135m).

INEOS has claimed that its cost-cutting is a consequence of Europe's Ineos carbon taxes, which it has called "extreme". Ratcliffe has also claimed that green policies are leading to the "deindustrialisation" of Europe. Ratcliffe has also overseen a brutal cost-cutting regime at United but the club are preparing to spend plenty of money in the transfer window to compensate for their worst season in 51 years. The Red Devils have already signed Matheus Cunha for £62.5m ($84m) and are hoping to buy Bryan Mbuemo from Brentford and Viktor Gyokeres from Ruben Amorim's former club Sporting CP.