Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has called on the Premier League to strip Chelsea of their 2016-17 title and retrospectively award the championship to Tottenham.
Pochettino’s Tottenham team finished second that season after collecting a club-record 86 points, but ended the campaign seven points behind Antonio Conte’s Chelsea, who won the league with 93 points.
His comments followed the Premier League’s decision to fine Chelsea £10.75 million over historical breaches involving undisclosed payments linked to transfers and third parties.
The breaches covered transactions between 2011 and 2018 and included deals involving players such as Eden Hazard, Willian, David Luiz and Nemanja Matic.
Pochettino, who later managed Chelsea during the 2023-24 season, argued that the punishment should also have included the removal of the title.
“We should win one Premier League, we should have been awarded it.”
He added: “If that [Chelsea’s rule-break] 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.”
Pochettino Says Tottenham Were Not on Equal Terms
The Argentine manager argued that Tottenham entered the 2016-17 campaign without the same circumstances and opportunities as Chelsea.
“We didn’t compete before the start of the season with the same card.”
Pochettino suggested that Tottenham could have made different transfer decisions had they been operating under the same conditions.
“Maybe with the same rules, we could’ve signed some players that would have made the team better or scored more goals.”
The Premier League breaches involved undisclosed payments and the reporting of certain transfer dealings. Chelsea self-reported the issues following the club’s change of ownership in 2022 and subsequently cooperated with investigations.
However, no sporting points deduction was imposed following the Premier League’s findings.
Pochettino Praises Chelsea but Demands Accountability
While arguing for the title to be reassigned, Pochettino acknowledged the quality of Chelsea’s performances under Conte during the 2016-17 season.
“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.”
He continued: “But if you broke the rules, then ‘ciao’ you need to give it to another team. I don’t know why that didn’t happen.”
Pochettino also insisted that he would apply the same principle to Tottenham if the club had been found guilty of similar breaches.
“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.’”
Chelsea Remain Official 2016-17 Champions
Tottenham’s 2016-17 season remains the club’s best Premier League finish. Spurs recorded 26 victories, four defeats and 86 points during the campaign.
Chelsea, meanwhile, secured the title after winning 30 of their 38 matches and finishing with 93 points.
Despite Pochettino’s call for the championship to be reassigned, Chelsea remain the officially recognised winners of the 2016-17 Premier League title, with Tottenham listed as runners-up.
