Mauricio Pochettino has called for Chelsea to be stripped of the 2016-17 Premier League title and for the trophy to be awarded to Tottenham Hotspur, following the club's admission of widespread financial rule breaches. The Argentine, who managed Spurs that season and later took charge at Chelsea, argues that the punishment handed down by the Football Association does not go far enough and that his former Tottenham side, who finished second, should be recognised as champions.
Pochettino's demand after Chelsea's rule breaches
Speaking to reporters, Pochettino said: 'We should win one Premier League, we should have been awarded it. If that 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.'
Chelsea's current owners, Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, self-reported 74 breaches of FA rules related to secret payments to unregistered agents after purchasing the club from Roman Abramovich in 2022. The club admitted to making £47m in secret payments to unregistered agents and intermediaries between 2011 and 2018, with deals for Eden Hazard, David Luiz, Willian and Nemanja Matic all found to have broken regulations.
Conte's dominant side and the fallout
Antonio Conte's Chelsea finished the 2016-17 campaign with 93 points, seven clear of Pochettino's Tottenham. The team was spearheaded by Diego Costa and Hazard, with N'Golo Kante, Gary Cahill and David Luiz all selected in the PFA Team of the Year. However, the title has since been tainted by the club's admitted misconduct.
An initial punishment included a six-point deduction, suspended until June 30, 2027, and a £10m fine. On appeal, the points deduction was set aside and replaced with a two-window transfer ban, also suspended until June 2027. Pochettino believes this is insufficient, arguing that breaking the rules should result in losing the title.
'Same rules for everyone'
Pochettino, who managed Spurs from May 2014 to November 2019 and later spent one season at Chelsea in 2023/24, emphasised the need for fairness. 'We can say that they scored goals, they won games. OK. 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've signed some players that would have made the team better or scored more goals,' he said.
Asked about Hazard's impact, he replied: 'Maybe yes. I have no doubt and I'm not scared to say the truth. The Chelsea fans will be upset with me. 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."'
He added: 'It's impossible if only some clubs play with offside and another plays with no offside. Or one plays with VAR and another plays with no VAR. 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 say that. 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.'
FA statement and Pochettino's frustration
The FA's July statement confirmed the sanctions, noting: 'A financial sanction of £10m and a suspended two-window registration ban have been imposed on Chelsea FC for breaches of the Football Association Football Agent Regulations, Regulations on Working with Intermediaries and Third Party Investment in Players Regulations. The FA charged Chelsea FC with 74 breaches of FA Rule E1.2 after its current ownership self-reported misconduct upon its purchase of the club. The FA is continuing to investigate individual misconduct arising out of this case.'
Pochettino expressed frustration that the title was not reassigned, saying: 'I don't know why that didn't happen. What is being promoted and incentivised is to break the rules. If you don't punish in the way that you need to punish, I say: "Yeah … I lost my job [at Spurs] because we didn't win a title."' The FA's independent Appeal Board set aside the suspended points deduction and instead imposed the suspended transfer ban, which remains in place until June 30, 2027.
