Mauricio Pochettino demands Chelsea be stripped of 2016-17 Premier League title

Mauricio Pochettino, the current United States national team manager and former manager of both Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, has called for Chelsea to be stripped of their 2016-17 Premier League title. He argues the championship should be retrospectively awarded to Tottenham, who finished as runners-up that season.

The demand follows revelations that Chelsea committed numerous financial rule breaches during the ownership of Roman Abramovich. The club was fined approximately £10.75 million by the Premier League and faced a suspended transfer ban after admitting to 74 breaches of Football Association regulations. These violations involved undisclosed payments to unregistered agents and third parties during transfers for key players such as Eden Hazard, Willian, David Luiz, and Nemanja Matic.

Pochettino stated that the lack of competitive parity due to these breaches meant Tottenham did not compete on a level playing field. He noted, “If that 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.” He emphasized that while Chelsea's on-field performance under Antonio Conte was notable, the integrity of the competition requires that rule-breakers face sporting consequences beyond mere financial penalties.