Premier League officials are ‘FURIOUS about Mike Dean’s comments’ after former referee admitted he previously failed to intervene in ‘big, stupid’ VAR decision
- Mike Dean’s VAR revelation has caused a stir among officials
- The former referee admitted that he had previously made a mistake while on VAR
- WATCH: It all comes up – Mail Sport’s preview show for the weekend’s football
Premier League officials are furious with former colleague Mike Dean after he revealed insider insight into VAR decisions, according to reports.
Dean retired this summer after finishing his 28-year career in English football to pursue opportunities in science, taking part in Sky’s Soccer Saturday show.
Since ending his on-field career, he has been busy fulfilling media duties and recently revealed that he previously avoided sending Premier League referee Anthony Taylor to assess a foul in a match to avoid that his ‘buddy’ would get extra ‘grief’.
The damning allegation has enraged officials in Britain’s top power amid criticism from the public after a difficult few years as chairman of the board, as reported by Britain’s newspaper The Guardian. Mirror.
The incident cited relates to Chelsea’s 2-2 draw against Tottenham at the start of last season, with Cristian Romero pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair before Harry Kane scored the equalizer in the 96th minute.
Mike Dean has reportedly angered Premier League officials with his latest revelation
Dean admitted a mistake in last season’s 2-2 draw against the Spurs, with Cristian Romero (centre) pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair just before Spurs equalized late in stoppage time.
Dean (pictured) shared how he tried to protect Anthony Taylor from abuse in last year’s Chelsea-Spurs game
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Romero went unpunished for his actions and Dean revealed it on Simon Jordan’s In front podcast that he should have intervened.
“I missed the stupid hair-pulling at Chelsea against Tottenham which was pathetic from my point of view,” said the 55-year-old.
“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 referee and I guess I didn’t want to send him because I didn’t want any more grief than he already had.
“That was a big mistake. If they don’t score from the corner, it’s not that big of a deal. But I knew very well that I would be fired the following week. I asked for some time off because it wasn’t for me,” he said.
The revelation comes amid a period in which managers, players and Premier League supporters are questioning the integrity and decision-making of officials.
Anthony Taylor, above, was not sent to review the incident by VAR officer Dean, as he did not want Taylor to come in for more abuse
Dean told Simon Jordan about the rigorous fitness tests umpires have to take – and wondered if officials of all ages should do the same
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes recently criticized the referee in his side’s defeat to Tottenham and demanded an apology after the game.
The PGMOL later released a statement in response to Dean’s scathing comments, saying: ‘VARs undergo extensive training with a full focus on working effectively with the team of referees on the field to identify obvious and obvious mistakes. (in relation to goals, penalties, red cards and mistaken identity).
“If VARs identify a clear and obvious error by the team of match officials on the field, they should step in and recommend an assessment by the referee.
“We strongly refute any suggestion that VARs, for whatever reason, would not intervene when they have identified a clear and obvious error.”