Mike Dean says comments about protecting Anthony Taylor have been ‘blown completely out of proportion’… as he explains he simply wanted to protect a referee and not a ‘buddy’
- Dean says he protected Anthony Taylor, but not because they were “friends.”
- He believes that the word ‘mate’ has been misunderstood in his explanation
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Mike Dean has clarified his comments about protecting Anthony Taylor from abuse by saying the friendship aspect has been “completely blown out of proportion.”
Dean had said about Simon Jordan’s “In front’ podcast that although he was a VAR official at the heated Chelsea-Spurs match in April 2022, he did not send referee Taylor to judge Cristian Romero’s controversial hair-pulling on Marc Cucurella because he wanted to protect his ‘buddy’ from further anger .
The former Premier League referee has drawn criticism for his comments, but now insists the friendship element was exaggerated, suggesting ‘mate’ is just a substitute term for a fellow official.
“To say I didn’t send him to the screen because he’s a buddy is an absolute farce,” he said. Football Saturday from Sky Sports.
“If you call him a buddy you may not like some of the guys in your refereeing group, but if you have a game on the weekend it’s four of you in the middle, that’s where the VAR and assistants are VAR, and that’s those six people – they’re your friends for the day.
Mike Dean explained that he decided not to send Anthony Taylor to judge the hair pull in Chelsea vs Spurs simply because he wanted to protect a fellow referee, not because of friendship.
Cristian Romero (center) pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair just before the Spurs equalized in stoppage time during a furious game
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“Maybe you play on a professional team. There are eleven players, three or four of which you might not like, but at three o’clock on a Saturday afternoon they are your friends and you want your friends to do well.
“The mate thing has been blown out of proportion. I want to support the referee as much as possible and you do that as a VAR (official). Yes it was wrong, and I should have sent him to the screen, but to say I didn’t send him because he’s a ‘buddy’ is an absolute farce and it’s just all blown out of proportion.
“I tried to protect the referee, not because he’s my ‘buddy’, but because I was trying to protect the referee. It was wrong and I paid the price. After that I didn’t play for three weeks. The money stops with me and it was a big mistake.’
He added: “If I said ‘colleague’, it’s a little different.”
Dean has admitted wrong in the past, with Harry Kane scoring a dramatic equalizer after the error, and stands by that stance today.
Both Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte were already booked, as well as several players. Following Kane’s equaliser, both managers were sent off on an anarchic afternoon that saw tempers flare between both teams in a heated London derby.
Speaking to Jordan, Dean said: “I missed the stupid hair-pulling at Chelsea against Tottenham, which was pathetic from my point of view.
“It’s one of where, if I had the time again, what would I do? I would send Anthony (Taylor) to the screen. I think I knew when I sent him to the screen… he warned both managers: he had a great game, it was such a tough game from start to finish.
“I said to Anthony afterwards, ‘I just didn’t want to send you to the screen after what happened in the game’.
“I didn’t want to send him up because he’s both mate and umpire and I guess I didn’t want to send him up because I didn’t want more grief than he already had.”
Dean admitted a long time ago that he made a mistake and stands by that assessment today