Mauricio Pochettino Calls for Tottenham to Be Awarded 2016-17 Premier League Title After Chelsea's Financial Rule Breaches
Pochettino Demands Spurs Be Named Champions for 2016-17 Season
Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino insists that Spurs deserve the 2016-17 Premier League title after Chelsea admitted to breaking FA financial regulations. Despite Chelsea receiving a £10 million fine earlier this year, Pochettino argues that only awarding a fine without sporting penalties is unfair to Tottenham.
The 2016-17 Title Race in Focus
The Football Association recently handed Chelsea a hefty £10 million fine along with a suspended transfer ban following the club’s admission of 74 breaches of financial rules under Roman Abramovich’s ownership. These violations, occurring between 2011 and 2018, involved illegal payments to unregistered agents during key transfers.
Chelsea’s current owners disclosed these infractions after taking over in 2022. Signings affected include Eden Hazard, David Luiz, and Nemanja Matic, all vital players when Antonio Conte led the Blues to their 2016-17 Premier League win.
That season, Tottenham finished second, seven points behind Chelsea. They had the league’s best attack, strongest defence, and fewest losses but left without a trophy. Pochettino now believes the official record should reflect this reality.
"We Deserve to Be Champions"
“I’ve said that we should win one title, one Premier League,” Pochettino told reporters. “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.”
The Argentine stressed that Spurs competed under stricter financial conditions. “They were punished, they admitted (it), so that’s it? The title should be for the team that was second. We didn’t compete with the same rules. OK, now we can say that they scored goals, they won games. But it’s completely fair to say that we didn’t compete before the start of the season with the same card.”
He added that a level playing field might have altered history: “Maybe with the same rules, if we apply the same things, maybe we could have signed some players that would have made the team better, or scored more goals. It’s not me complaining. It’s the truth.”
Unequal Conditions at Chelsea
Pochettino, who managed Chelsea during the 2023-24 campaign, did not hold back on addressing his former club. “The Chelsea fans will be upset with me because I’m saying this,” he admitted. “But if we were at Tottenham and broke the rules, I would 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 the capacity to create the best team.”
While praising Antonio Conte’s coaching skills, Pochettino maintained that integrity must come first. “I don’t say that they did not play well. Conte, the coach, was great. I don’t want this message twisted. But if you broke the rules, in the moment, then ciao. You need to give it to another team.”
He warned that lenient sanctions encourage rule-breaking. “What is being promoted and incentivised is to break the rules,” he said. “If you don’t punish the way that you need to punish, I say yes, but I lost my job because we didn’t win the title.” Reflecting on his exit from Spurs in 2019, he concluded: “We were fighting with clubs [who worked] in a completely different way to us. I think we deserve more. We operated in a different way.”
Will English Football Take a Stand?
Historically, English football authorities have avoided stripping titles for financial misconduct, opting for points deductions instead. With growing focus on financial fairness and sustainability in the Premier League, cases like Chelsea’s may fuel ongoing debate.
Still, retroactive action against Chelsea seems unlikely, leaving the official records unchanged for now. Pochettino’s statements add weight to discussions about sporting fairness and how the league manages its richest clubs in the future.
- Chelsea's Financial Breaches: 74 admitted FA rule violations (2011-2018)
- Fine imposed: £10 million
- Suspended transfer ban: Applied to Chelsea
- Players implicated: Eden Hazard, David Luiz, Nemanja Matic
- 2016-17 Premier League standings: Chelsea 1st, Tottenham 2nd (7 points behind)
- Tottenham's 2016-17 stats: Best attack, best defense, fewest defeats
