Green protest fear over Ineos debut
TEAM SKY will morph into Team Ineos at a launch in Yorkshire today in the face of calls from environmentalists to ban fossil fuel companies from sponsoring sport. Friends of the Earth’s chief executive Craig Bennett has written to Sir Dave Brailsford condemning his decision to allow a petrochemicals giant, owned principally by British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, to take over his team in a £120million, three-year deal. Bennett told Sportsmail yesterday that he believes anti-fracking demonstrators could try to disrupt the Tour de Yorkshire that begins tomorrow and marks the introduction of Team Ineos to professional cycling. The new team have not revealed the
location of today’s launch, which will be attended by Ratcliffe and Brailsford, for fear that news could spread to anti-fracking groups. In his letter to Brailsford, Bennett says: ‘Ineos’s sponsorship of sports teams stems from a desire to greenwash its highly damaging and polluting activities. It is wholly inappropriate to accept such sponsorship.’