Mauricio Pochettino claims Tottenham should be awarded 2016-17 Premier League title after Chelsea rule breaches

Mauricio Pochettino said Chelsea should be stripped of their 2016-17 English Premier League title and it should be handed to his former Tottenham Hotspur side following the Blues’ record fine for rule breaches earlier this year.

Chelsea were fined a record total of £10.75 million (US$14.56 million) in March for historical breaches of the Premier League’s regulations after voluntarily reporting in 2022 that they had evidence of a potential breach of the rules relating to third-party payments and financial reporting.

The Premier League established that between 2011 and 2018, undisclosed illicit payments by third parties associated with Chelsea were made to players, unregistered agents and other third parties.

Spurs, who last won the top-flight title in 1961, finished with 86 points when Pochettino was in charge in 2016-17 – a record for the club.

“We should win one Premier League, we should have been awarded it,” said Argentine Pochettino, who now manages the United States national team and last month signed a contract extension to remain in position until the 2030 World Cup.

“If that [Chelsea breaking rules] 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.”