Published : 10 Sep 2026, 08:26 PM
Updated : 16 Sep 2026, 11:49 AM
Mauricio Pochettino wants the Premier League to rewrite history.
The former Tottenham manager says Chelsea should be stripped of the 2016-17 title and the trophy handed instead to the Spurs side that finished seven points behind Antonio Conte's champions.
His demand follows a series of punishments imposed on Chelsea over historical financial and agent-related breaches committed under Roman Abramovich's ownership.
Chelsea have since been fined and handed transfer-related sanctions.
For Pochettino, who spent the 2023-24 season in charge of Chelsea, that does not go far enough.
So could the Premier League really take away a title almost a decade after it was won?
What Were Chelsea Punished For?
The Premier League concluded two disciplinary processes against Chelsea in March after the club's current owners voluntarily reported evidence of possible historical breaches discovered following their 2022 takeover.
Chelsea accepted sanctions for breaches relating to financial reporting, third-party investment and youth development, including fines totalling £10.75 million.
They were also handed an immediate nine-month academy transfer ban and a suspended one-year ban on registering first-team players.
A separate FA case concerned agent regulations, intermediaries and third-party investment.
Chelsea admitted 74 breaches of FA Rule E1.2 and were fined another £10 million.
An independent Regulatory Commission initially imposed a suspended six-point deduction as well, but Chelsea successfully appealed that part of the punishment. It was replaced with a suspended two-window registration ban.
None of those sanctions involved retrospectively removing points from seasons in which the historical breaches occurred.
Why Does Pochettino Want the Title?
Pochettino has an obvious personal connection to the argument.
His Tottenham side finished second behind Chelsea in 2016-17 with 86 points, still Spurs' highest total in the Premier League era. Chelsea finished on 93.
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CAPTION: Chelsea celebrate after clinching the 2016-17 Premier League title with victory over West Bromwich Albion on May 12, 2017. Photo: Reuters
"The title should be for the team that was second," Pochettino told the Guardian.
He accepts that Conte and his players won the championship on the pitch, but argues that fines do not properly settle the question of sporting fairness when clubs have not all operated under the same rules.
Pochettino said he would take the same position had Tottenham been responsible for similar breaches, arguing that rule-breaking should have sporting consequences regardless of the club involved.
His broader point is that competition begins long before players step onto the pitch, with clubs expected to work within the same financial and regulatory framework.
Could Chelsea Actually Be Stripped of the Title?
There is currently no indication that will happen.
The Premier League's disciplinary system gives independent commissions broad powers to impose sanctions for rule breaches, including fines, points deductions and other sporting penalties.
But Chelsea's historical case has already been resolved through sanction agreements ratified by an independent commission.
Those agreements did not include a retrospective points deduction or any move to reopen the 2016-17 league table.
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CAPTION: Mauricio Pochettino led Tottenham to second place in the 2016-17 Premier League, seven points behind champions Chelsea. Photo: Reuters
Nor has the Premier League announced any process to reconsider Chelsea's titles from the period covered by the investigation.
That does not mean a football authority could never remove a title in extraordinary circumstances.
It does mean Pochettino is calling for something far beyond the sanctions currently imposed on Chelsea.
Has a Title Ever Been Taken Away Before?
European football does have a famous precedent.
Juventus were stripped of their 2004-05 and 2005-06 Serie A titles following the Calciopoli scandal in Italy.
The first championship was left unassigned, while the 2005-06 title was awarded to Inter Milan.
But the comparison only goes so far.
Calciopoli concerned sporting fraud and improper influence over refereeing and match officials, misconduct that went directly to the integrity of the competition on the pitch.
Chelsea's breaches concern financial reporting, agents, intermediaries and third-party investment.
Both raise questions about fairness, but they are very different kinds of offence.
So What Punishment Fits an Old Offence?
That may be the more difficult question raised by Pochettino's intervention.
Imposing severe sporting penalties now would punish owners, players and coaches who had nothing to do with the original conduct.
But purely financial punishment creates the opposite problem. If historical rule-breaking is discovered only years later, any fines arrive long after the trophies, prize money and other sporting rewards have already been handed out.
Football regulators are therefore left balancing accountability for the past against fairness to those running the club in the present.
