The Premier League chiefs have defended their decision not to strip Chelsea of their 2017 league title.
Ngolo Kante, Gary Cahill, John Terry and Cesar Azpilicueta of Chelsea celebrates with the Premier League Trophy after the Premie
Chelsea lift the 2016/17 Premier League trophy (Image: Getty Images)
Premier League bosses have firmly rejected claims that Chelsea were let off lightly amid the controversy surrounding their 2017 title triumph. Former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has argued that Chelsea should have been stripped of the title, with Spurs crowned champions in their place. Pochettino said: "If they admitted they broke the rules, the Premier League title was for the second-best team."
The punishments handed down by the Premier League, the Football Association and UEFA sparked considerable outrage after Chelsea admitted making £47million in illegal payments on transfers between 2011 and 2018. Everton supporters were particularly incensed, having faced a points deduction for breaching Profit and Sustainability Rules, while Chelsea escaped with a mere £10m fine.
The Premier League maintains that Chelsea voluntarily came forward with the matter following Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital's takeover of the club in 2022, effectively disclosing the illegal payments that had been made during Roman Abramovich's tenure.
The payments included seven transactions totalling £5.6m made to an unregistered agent "for the benefit of" Eden Hazard's transfer. The Belgian winger was Chelsea's standout performer during the 2016/17 campaign, the very season in which Pochettino's Tottenham finished as runners-up.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters stated last month: "It's historic. It's very different to the PSR cases. In the case of Chelsea, the new owners came forward with all of the information and we decided to enter into a sanction agreement.
"That was overseen by a commission as well and part of the role of that commission is to ensure that sanction is not unduly lenient."
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Mauricio Pochettino speaking on The Overlap
Mauricio Pochettino wants Chelsea stripped of their title (Image: The Overlap)
The Premier League have further argued that even accounting for the illicit payments, Chelsea would not have breached the PSR threshold, and that the £10m penalty represents a record fine. They additionally maintain that Chelsea demonstrated exceptional levels of transparency throughout the process.
The FA also launched their own investigation and initially handed down a fine alongside a suspended six-point deduction. However, the points penalty was subsequently overturned on appeal and ruled an "excessive sanction."
Whether the FA, as the governing body of English football, holds the authority to go beyond a points deduction and strip a Premier League club of their title remains uncertain.
Nevertheless, the FA are continuing to pursue individuals connected to the case, who are thought to be agents and intermediaries, given that Abramovich and other former Chelsea staff departed the club long ago. Tottenham declined to comment.