For Mauricio Pochettino, Chelsea’s admitted rule-breaking should change who won the 2016-17 Premier League, not simply how much the club pays. He wants the championship removed from Chelsea’s record and awarded to Tottenham.
Now committed to leading the United States men’s national team through 2030, Pochettino is revisiting the season in which his Spurs side collected a club-record 86 points. Antonio Conte’s Chelsea finished seven ahead on 93.
“The title should be for the team that was second,” Pochettino said in an interview with the Guardian.
His objection concerns the teams assembled before the games began. Pochettino acknowledged the quality of Chelsea’s football and Conte’s work, while arguing that unequal conditions in recruitment compromised the competition. In his view, following the same rules might have allowed Tottenham to build a stronger squad.
Chelsea’s punishments have not included the removal of the title. Neither the Premier League nor the Football Association has announced a process to award it to Spurs. Pochettino is calling for a different outcome from the one the disciplinary cases produced.
Why Chelsea avoided a points deduction
The Premier League’s investigation established that undisclosed payments were made for Chelsea’s benefit between 2011 and 2018, including money to players and unregistered agents. The club admitted breaches involving financial reporting, third-party investment and its obligation to act in good faith toward the league.
The league’s March fines totaled £10.75 million but covered two separate cases. The financial-reporting case brought a £10 million fine and a one-year first-team registration ban suspended for two years. Academy misconduct from 2019 to 2022 accounted for the remaining £750,000 and an immediate nine-month restriction on registering certain players from other Premier League and English Football League clubs.
The league also recalculated Chelsea’s historical finances with the omitted payments included. It concluded that the club would not have exceeded the applicable loss limits under its Profitability and Sustainability Rules. That did not excuse the reporting failures. It meant the authorities were not punishing Chelsea for a proven breach of those loss limits.
A points deduction was considered. The league’s agreement said a registration ban better matched the transfer-related misconduct, while mitigating circumstances weighed against taking points away. Chelsea’s voluntary disclosures, admissions and exceptional cooperation were central to the decision.
The ownership change did not erase the club’s responsibility. The agreement separated continuing liability from the credit given for revealing the misconduct. Chelsea remained answerable for what happened, but received a lighter punishment because of how it helped the investigation.
The Football Association’s July case ended with another £10 million fine and a two-window registration ban suspended until June 30, 2027. An independent commission had initially imposed a suspended six-point deduction, but that sanction was overturned on appeal.
The Guardian reported that the appeal board found insufficient evidence that Chelsea had achieved an actual sporting advantage. That is narrower than proof that no advantage existed. Equally, it does not establish that Tottenham would have won the league without the breaches. The overturned suspended deduction was not a subtraction from Chelsea’s 2017 points total.
Chelsea’s statement welcoming the July outcome emphasized that the club had supplied thousands of documents and voluntarily brought the historical matters to regulators. It described the proceedings against the club as concluded. That statement addressed the disciplinary process, not Pochettino’s subsequent remarks.
The authorities had reasons to reward disclosure and cooperation. Whether that reward left an adequate punishment is still open to argument. Chelsea’s admissions establish wrongdoing; they do not, by themselves, settle who should inherit a championship. Pochettino wants the remedy to reach beyond the club’s finances and recruitment, into the record books.
