Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS has reached an out-of-court settlement with Tottenham Hotspur to end an £11 million legal dispute over an alleged breach of a sponsorship deal, Telegraph Sport journalist Ben Rumsby has revealed.
The dispute arose from a five-year, £17.5 million deal, signed in 2022, under which Tottenham would promote INEOS Grenadier as its “official 4×4 partner”.
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Tottenham terminated its contract with the Manchester United co-owner’s conglomerate in March this year and took legal action in June, alleging that INEOS had failed to pay an annual instalment of £5 million and an additional inflation-adjusted amount of almost £500,000.
According to Tottenham’s court documents, the club also sought at least £5,275,974 in damages after the deal was terminated with over two years remaining.
INEOS responded with a counterclaim of over £1 million, claiming that Tottenham had conducted sponsorship negotiations with Audi in connection with Harry Kane’s transfer to Bayern Munich in the summer of 2023.
According to Rumsby, although the exact amount paid to Tottenham remains undisclosed, sources suggest that it could be around half of the over £11 million that the North London club had demanded.
The partnership between Tottenham and INEOS began when the company became the club’s “official supplier of hand sanitiser” during the coronavirus pandemic.
Tottenham filed their claim less than a month after defeating Ratcliffe’s United in the Europa League final to qualify for the Champions League.
The defeat left United without European play for the first time since the 2013/14 season, when they finished seventh in the Premier League under David Moyes.
Tottenham, on the other hand, parted ways with manager Ange Postecoglou after the final in Bilbao, despite the fact that the Australian tactician had led the North London club to their first trophy in 17 years.
Tottenham hired former Brentford boss Thomas Frank shortly after, and signed a three-year contract with the Danish tactician, who started by winning eight of his first 17 games.
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North London club secured a 4-0 victory over Danish club Copenhagen in the Champions League on Tuesday, and remained unbeaten in the tournament after four games.
Tottenham host Manchester United at home on Saturday and will be looking to continue their unbeaten run against the Red Devils, with seven meetings without defeat and wins in the last four.
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