EPL: Pochettino demands Premier League strip Chelsea of 2016-17 title

Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has called for Chelsea to be stripped of their 2016-17 Premier League title and the championship retrospectively awarded to Spurs.

Pochettino’s Tottenham side finished runners-up to Antonio Conte’s Chelsea that season, collecting a club-record 86 points but finishing seven points behind the champions.

As reported by BBC Sport on Thursday, his comments come after Chelsea were fined £10.75 million by the Premier League for historical breaches involving undisclosed payments connected to transfers and third parties. The breaches covered the period from 2011 to 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, believes the punishment should have included the loss 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.”

The Argentine argued that Tottenham did not compete under the same conditions as Chelsea.

“We didn’t compete before the start of the season with the same card.”

Pochettino suggested that, had Tottenham been able to operate under the same circumstances, they might have strengthened their squad and improved their chances of winning the league.

“Maybe with the same rules, we could’ve signed some players that would have made the team better or scored more goals.”

Chelsea’s breaches related to undisclosed payments and the way certain transfer dealings were reported. The club self-reported the issues after its change of ownership in 2022 and cooperated with the subsequent investigations. No sporting points deduction was imposed in relation to the Premier League’s findings.

Pochettino acknowledged that Chelsea played well under Conte but maintained that breaking the rules should have consequences for the competition’s outcome.

“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 said he would hold Tottenham to the same standard if the roles were reversed.

“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.’”

Tottenham’s 2016-17 campaign remains their best Premier League finish, with Spurs recording 26 wins, four defeats and 86 points. Chelsea, meanwhile, won the title with 93 points after a 30-win campaign.

However, despite Pochettino’s call, Chelsea remain the officially recognised champions of the 2016-17 Premier League season, with Tottenham recorded as runners-up. (Punch)