New Zealand Rugby is taking legal action against Ineos as they claim Sir Jim Ratcliffe's company has backed out of their multi-million-pound sponsorship deal. The All Blacks have accused the Manchester United co-owners of refusing to pay an instalment on a six-year deal and attempting to "walk away three years early" from their agreement. Ineos became the team's official performance partner in 2021 and their deal is understood to be worth around £3.65million per year. New Zealand's training kit features the Ineos name across it and was donned by their players throughout training and warm-ups during the recent Autumn Internationals. The deal also includes Ineos branding on the back of playing shorts. In a statement on Tuesday, NZR said Ineos had "failed to pay the first instalment of the 2025 sponsorship fee, confirming its decision to exit our six-year agreement". They went on to add: "Having learned of Ineos' decision to walk away three years early, we have moved to protect the interests of New Zealand Rugby and the wider game. We have been left with no option but to launch legal proceedings to protect our commercial position. NZR is actively pursuing new commercial opportunities and global interest in the All Blacks and other teams in black remains high." It isn't the first time Ineos has taken a controversial decision and last month they parted ways with four-time Olympic champion Ben Ainslie, despite backing the Britannia America's Cup sailing team since 2018. Ineos claimed they could "not find agreement" with Ainslie on "terms to move forward" after last year's event. Ineos now plans to compete in the next America's Cup under the Britannia name, but Ainslie's team have responded and said they were "astounded" by Ineos' future plans for the America's Cup and that the decision "raises significant legal and practical obstacles for them". Ratcliffe has taken a number of cost-cutting measures with his Ineos sports portfolio seemingly putting all their focus on the Premier League outfit. Back in December he increased his stake in United to 28.94 percent and he's overseen a host of of cost-reducing measures, which include 250 redundancies and the cutting of a number of staff benefits. They've made it clear that they want to make United's business more profitable and to increase funds available to spend on the first team. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.