Mauricio Pochettino claims Tottenham should be awarded Premier League title after Chelsea rule breaches
Mauricio Pochettino has suggested that Tottenham should be retrospectively awarded the 2016-17 Premier League title following Chelsea's punishment for financial rule breaches. He argues that the competitive playing field was not level during that season.
Why it matters
The comments spark debate regarding the integrity of past sporting results and the impact of financial regulations on competitive fairness.
Mauricio Pochettino believes Tottenham should have been awarded the 2016-17 Premier League title after Chelsea were punished for rule breaches covering that period from the Roman Abramovich era – and that Spurs deserve more respect for what they did over that time.
That 2016-17 campaign saw them claim a club record 86 points, partly through an unbeaten home record in the last season of the old White Hart Lane, to finish seven points behind Antonio Conte 's Chelsea .
Eden Hazard was one of the season's star players, and his 2012 transfer from Lille had come under investigation over illegal payment to agents, that ultimately saw Chelsea given a fine but not stripped of titles. That result was largely down to the new ownership self-reporting the breaches on buying the club in 2022, but Pochettino feels the record should still be different.
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