Mike Dean avoided VAR call to save fellow ref ‘more grief’

Former referee Mike Dean has mentioned he determined not to alert a fellow official to a missed call through the VAR system throughout final season’s fiery Premier League match between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur as a result of he wished to spare him “more grief”.

Dean, who mentioned he now regrets his resolution, was the Video Assistant Referee throughout a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge final August when Spurs’ Cristian Romero pulled Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella to the bottom by his hair at a nook.

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The foul was not given by on-field referee Anthony Taylor and Spurs scored a late equaliser in the course of the ensuing passage of play.

“I missed the stupid hair pull at Chelsea versus Tottenham which was pathetic from my point of view,” Dean advised the Up Front podcast. “It’s one of them were if I had my time again, what would I do? I’d send Anthony to the screen.

“I mentioned to Anthony afterwards: ‘I simply did not need to ship you to the display screen after what has gone on within the recreation.’

“I didn’t want to send him up because he is a mate as well as a referee and I think I didn’t want to send him up because I didn’t want any more grief than he already had.”

Dean, who refereed greater than 550 matches within the high flight and have become a full-time VAR official final season, was taken off VAR responsibility for 2 months after acknowledging his mistake on the time of the incident.

In July the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) mentioned Dean was stepping down from the position and leaving the referees’ physique.

“That was a major error. If they don’t score from the corner it is not as big an issue,” Dean mentioned.

“I knew full well I would be stood down the week after. I asked to take a bit of time off because it wasn’t for me.”

The former referee mentioned the VAR position left him “dreading” matchdays.

“I used to get in the car on a Friday and was dreading Saturday. I was thinking, ‘I hope nothing happens,'” he added. “I used to be petrified sitting in the chair.”

A PGMOL spokesperson advised ESPN: “VARs undergo extensive training with the focus centred entirely around effectively working with the on-field team of officials to rectify clear and obvious errors (relating to goals, penalties, red cards and mistaken identity).

“When VARs determine a transparent and apparent error by the on-field workforce of match officers, they need to intervene and advocate a assessment by the referee.We strongly refute any suggestion that VARs don’t intervene, for no matter cause, once they have recognized a transparent and apparent error.”

Information from ESPN’s Dale Johnson was included on this report.