Pochettino Says Tottenham Deserved 2017 Title
Mauricio Pochettino believes Tottenham should have been awarded the 2016-17 Premier League title after Chelsea were punished for historical breaches of competition rules.
Chelsea were fined £10.75m in March after the Premier League charged the club over rule violations linked to payments involving transfers between 2011 and 2018.
The club also faced a six-point deduction, although that punishment was later set aside on appeal. Antonio Conte’s Chelsea finished seven points ahead of Pochettino’s Tottenham during the 2016-17 campaign.
Pochettino Calls for Title to Be Reassigned
Pochettino, who managed Tottenham from 2014 to 2019, argued that his team should now be recognised as Premier League champions because Chelsea admitted breaking the rules.
“We should win one title, one Premier League. We should have been awarded it,” Pochettino said.
“Chelsea were punished, they admitted, so that’s it? The title should be for the team that was second.”
The former Tottenham manager argued that the clubs did not compete under equal conditions at the beginning of the season.
“It’s true that we didn’t compete with the same rules. It’s completely fair to say that we didn’t compete before the start of the season with the same card,” he added.
Pochettino also suggested that Tottenham might have made different transfer decisions had they known Chelsea were operating outside the rules.
“Maybe with the same rules, if we apply the same things, maybe we could’ve signed some players that would have made the team better or scored more goals,” he said.
Chelsea Admitted Historical Rule Breaches
Chelsea’s current owners, Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, reported 74 potential breaches of Football Association rules after completing their purchase of the club in 2022.
The club admitted that £47m had been paid secretly to unregistered agents and third parties in connection with transfers between 2011 and 2018.
A Premier League investigation found that third-party payments associated with Chelsea had been made to players, unregistered agents and other parties without being disclosed to the relevant authorities at the time.
The league’s report identified several transfers connected to the payments, including those involving Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto’o, Willian, Ramires, David Luiz, Andre Schurrle and Nemanja Matic.
There was no suggestion that any of those players were involved in wrongdoing. Hazard, Willian, Matic and David Luiz were all Chelsea players during the 2016-17 title-winning season.
Why Chelsea Were Not Deducted Points
Despite the breaches, the Premier League concluded that a points deduction was not appropriate.
The league recalculated Chelsea’s historical financial submissions after taking the undisclosed payments into account. It determined that the club would not have breached its profitability and sustainability rules had the payments been properly registered at the time.
Chelsea’s £10m fine would originally have been £20m but was reduced by half because the club had proactively reported the breaches and cooperated with the investigation.
The additional £750,000 fine issued in March related to the registration of academy players between 2019 and 2022. Chelsea were also given an immediate nine-month academy transfer ban.
Pochettino Defends His Position
Pochettino acknowledged that Chelsea supporters may disagree with his comments but insisted he was simply stating what he believes to be the truth.
“It’s not me complaining – it’s the truth. If they admitted they broke the rules, the Premier League title was for the second-best team,” he said.
“I’m not scared to say the truth. The Chelsea fans will be upset with me because I’m saying this, but if we were at Tottenham and broke the rules I’d admit the same.”
Pochettino guided Tottenham to their best Premier League finish during his time at the club when they finished second behind Chelsea in 2016-17. He also led Spurs to the 2019 Champions League final, although the club did not win a trophy during his five-year tenure.
The Argentine later returned to Chelsea as manager for the 2023-24 season before becoming head coach of the United States national team.