Mauricio Pochettino has claimed Chelsea should be stripped of their 2017 Premier League title and the trophy handed to Tottenham. The Argentine, who managed Spurs before later taking charge at Stamford Bridge, believes Tottenham should be awarded the 2016/17 championship because Chelsea "broke the rules."
Chelsea's transfer breaches
Chelsea were fined and handed a suspended transfer ban by both the Premier League and the Football Association after acknowledging breaches of transfer regulations between 2011 and 2018 during Roman Abramovich's ownership. They confessed to making £47m in unlawful payments to agents, including during the acquisition of Eden Hazard, but the Premier League stated they had shown mercy because new owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital reported the matter themselves after their 2022 takeover.
Pochettino's argument
Pochettino, now head coach of the United States, maintains Tottenham are the ones who have genuinely suffered injustice throughout the saga. He said: "I've said that, that we should win one title, one Premier League. We should have been awarded it. If that was true and that happened, for sure, we deserve to be champions for that year, because we were the second best."
"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. 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. 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."
Respect and fairness
Pochettino, who was in charge of Chelsea between 2023 and 2024, concluded his five-year tenure at Spurs empty-handed. He acknowledges the work Antonio Conte accomplished when Chelsea edged out Spurs for the crown in 2017, but believes the Premier League should have taken firmer action. He added: "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 and say 'look, we don't deserve the title because we broke the rules.'"
"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. No. For everyone it needs to be the same rules. And then the capacity to create the best team. I don't say that they didn't play well, that was Conte, the coach was great, and everything. I don't say that. And I don't want this message is twisted. But if you broke the rules, in the moment, then 'ciao' - you need to give it to another team. I don't know what didn't happen."
