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« on: Thu 24 Aug 2023 22:12 »
"Former Premier League official Mike Dean has admitted that he refused to intervene on one of last season’s biggest VAR controversies because the on-pitch referee ‘was a mate’.
The 55-year-old, who spent 22 years refereeing in the top flight, became a dedicated VAR official last season after hanging up his whistle but made a high-profile gaffe in just the second matchday of the season.
Dean was on VAR duty for Tottenham’s visit to Chelsea on 16 August 2022, with Anthony Taylor the on-field referee, and both managed to miss Cristian Romero’s clear hair pull on Marc Cucurella in the final moments of the game.
The Argentine centre-back should have been shown a red card but instead Dean chose not to intervene, with Spurs equalising from the subsequent corner, and he was stood down from duty for the following gameweek.
Dean, who has left his role with PGMOL and is part of Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday programme, has now revealed that it was a conscious decision not to send Taylor to the monitor because he did not want to create any more ‘grief’ for his friend.
Speaking on the Up Front podcast with Simon Jordan, Dean – who regrets his decision – explained: ‘I missed the stupid hair pull at Chelsea versus Tottenham which was pathetic from my point of view.
‘It’s one of them where if I had my time again, what would I do? I’d send Anthony [Taylor] to the screen. I think I knew if I did send him to the screen … he’s cautioned both managers, he’s had a hell of a game, it’s been such a tough game end to end.