The Premier League has defended its handling of Chelsea's £10million fine after former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino claimed the club should be stripped of the 2016/17 title.
Pochettino, whose Tottenham side finished runners-up that season, said: "If they admitted they broke the rules, the Premier League title was for the second-best team."
Illegal payments admitted
Chelsea admitted making £47million in illegal payments on transfers between 2011 and 2018, prompting punishments from the Premier League, the Football Association and UEFA.
The Premier League's position is that Chelsea self-reported the issue after Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took over the club in 2022 and came clean about payments made under Roman Abramovich's regime. The payments included seven totalling £5.6m made to an unregistered agent "for the benefit of" Eden Hazard's transfer – Hazard was Chelsea's star player in the 2016/17 season.
Fine defended
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said last month: "It's historic. It's very different to the PSR cases. In the case of Chelsea, the new owners came forward with all of the information and we decided to enter into a sanction agreement. That was overseen by a commission as well and part of the role of that commission is to ensure that sanction is not unduly lenient."
The Premier League has also argued that even with the illegal payments taken into account, Chelsea would not have breached the Profit and Sustainability Rules threshold, and that £10m is a record fine. They say Chelsea went to great lengths to show complete transparency.
FA investigation ongoing
The FA initially imposed a fine and a suspended six-point deduction, but the points deduction was overturned on appeal and deemed an "excessive sanction." It is not clear whether the FA could strip a Premier League club of the title.
The FA are still investigating individuals involved in the case, likely agents and intermediaries, as Abramovich and other Chelsea employees have left the club. Tottenham declined to comment.
