Sept 10 (Reuters) - Mauricio Pochettino believes Chelsea should be stripped of their 2016-17 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 ($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 U.S. national team.
"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.
"We can say that they scored goals, they won games. But it's completely fair to say that we didn't compete before the start of the season with the same card.
"Maybe with the same rules, we could have signed some players that would have made the team better or scored more goals."
Reuters has contacted Chelsea for comment.
Chelsea, who were managed by Antonio Conte, won the title with 93 points that season, largely thanks to 16 goals and five assists from Eden Hazard -- one of seven players signed using payments made to unregistered agents.
"I have no doubt and I'm not scared to say the truth. The Chelsea fans will be upset with me," added Pochettino, who also managed Chelsea in the 2023-24 season.
"But if we were at Tottenham and broke the rules, I'd admit the same: 'We don't deserve the title because we broke the rules.'... For everyone it needs to be the same rules and then you have the capacity to create the best team.
"I don't say that Chelsea didn't play well, that Conte was not great. I don't want the message to be twisted. But if you broke the rules then ciao – you need to give it to another team."
Chelsea, who were hit with a one-year first-team transfer ban, suspended for two years, plus an immediate nine-month academy transfer ban, accepted the punishment and said they would pay the full costs of the league's investigation.
($1 = 0.7383 pounds)
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
