After a few months that the Glazer family decided to go public with their intention to put Manchester United up for sale, the first official contacts have started with several interested buyers.

There are several interested in acquiring the Red Devils, but one person is raising controversy, the billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

According to information from The Times, a spokesperson for the Ineos firm, which is owned by Jim Ratcliffe, who owns soccer clubs such as OGC Nice, FC Lausanne, and Racing Club Abidjan, as well as being a senior partner of Mercedes in Formula 1, confirmed that the multinational company formally started the process to acquire Manchester United from the Glazer family.

Given Rattcliffe’s intention to acquire the club, the organization that fights for the environment, Greenpeace has sent a message to the Glazer family so that they do not sell the club to the INEOS owner.

According to environmentalists contacted by the English newspaper the Mirror, the attempt to buy Manchester United may be a strategy by INEOS with sports institutions to divert attention from the damage that the chemical company generates to the planet.

“Accepting that offer would be a terrible own goal for Manchester United. The petrochemical giant INEOS is just a fossil fuel company trying to use a popular sport to distract itself from its environmentally destroying business,” a spokesman for Greenpeace in England told the Mirror.

The organization’s spokesman also stated that in case the red devils fell into Ratcliffe’s hands this would damage his image.

“With interests in oil and gas, plastics, and agrochemicals, INEOS has triple environmental damage to its name. They are leaders in plastic production in the UK and are one of the loudest voices in favor of fracking. Manchester United should really ask themselves if polluting their image and allowing blatant sporting laundering is really worth the dirty money they would get.”