Pochettino says Spurs should be awarded 2016-17 title after Chelsea broke rules

Mauricio Pochettino believes his former Tottenham Hotspur side should be awarded the 2016-17 Premier League title and Chelsea, who were fined for rule breaches earlier this year, should be stripped of their crown.

Chelsea were fined a record £10.75 million ($14.56 million) in March for historical breaches of English top-flight regulations after voluntarily reporting in 2022 that they had uncovered potential violations relating to third-party payments and financial reporting.

The Premier League found that between 2011 and 2018, third parties related to Chelsea made undisclosed illicit payments to players, unregistered agents and others.

Spurs, who last won the top-flight title in 1961, finished second with 86 points under Pochettino in 2016-17, a record for the club.

"We should win one Premier League, we should have been awarded it," said Argentine Pochettino, who now manages the U.S. national team.

"If that (Chelsea breaking rules) was true, then we deserve to be champions that year, for sure. They were punished, they admitted it? So that's it. The title should be for the team that was second.

"We can say that they scored goals, they won games. But it's completely fair to say that we didn't compete before the start of the season with the same card.

"Maybe with the same rules, we could have signed some players that would have made the team better or scored more goals."

Antonio Conte coached Chelsea, won the Premier League with 93 points that season, largely thanks to 16 goals and five assists from Eden Hazard, one of seven players signed using payments made to unregistered agents.

"I have no doubt and I'm not scared to say the truth. The Chelsea fans will be upset with me," added Pochettino, who also managed Chelsea in the 2023-24 season.

"But if we were at Tottenham and broke the rules, I'd admit the same: 'We don't deserve the title because we broke the rules.'... For everyone it needs to be the same rules and then you have the capacity to create the best team.

"I don't say that Chelsea didn't play well, that Conte was not great. I don't want the message to be twisted. But if you broke the rules then ciao – you need to give it to another team."

Chelsea were handed a one-year first-team transfer ban, suspended for two years, plus a nine-month immediate ban on academy transfers. The Blues accepted the punishment and agreed to cover the investigation costs in full.