MIKE DEAN said he has “no regrets” about his refereeing career in his first appearance since his sensational claims about playing ‘games’ during Prem fixtures.
The former Premier League referee, 58, caused uproar when he told Jamie Vardy‘s podcast about the alleged challenges.
One involved seeing how long he could go in a game without blowing his whistle, while another involved trying to stay in the centre circle for as long as possible.
The comments triggered strong reactions from fans, clubs and referee chiefs, with responses varying from fury to disbelief.
And now Dean has addressed the controversy on viewers’ screens as he made an appearance on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday.
The referee is a regular fixture on the program, where he lends his officiating expertise to the panel as they analyse the day’s football action.
The appearance comes just a day after he released a statement reiterating that he always applied his whistle appropriately while officiating – though he did not reference the games themselves.
He wrote to his Instagram account: “Throughout my 25 years as a professional referee, I have always applied the laws of the game to the best of my ability.
“My approach as a referee was always to allow the game to flow and whenever possible I preferred to apply a high threshold for contact which the players liked.
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“However, if I saw a foul challenge that needed me to take the appropriate action I would give it from the correct position.
“At no stage was it my intention to question, criticise or undermine the integrity of refereeing in this country.
“I have always respected the profession and the responsibility that comes with being a referee.”
Much of the furious response to Dean’s claims stemmed from the implication that he let the game run in order to see how long he could go without stopping play.
He told Vardy’s show: “There used to be games we’d have, as a laugh.
“We used to say, ‘we’ll kick-off now, right, see how long we can go without blowing a whistle’.
“I done that a few times in the Premier League, before VAR obviously. Went 20, 25 minutes without blowing a whistle.
“Few times… let it go, let it go, let it go.”
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The boasts set fans off searching for the match in question, with football content creator Adam Cleary claiming he had found one example of the referee going 19 minutes before blowing his whistle in a 2016 clash between Manchester United and West Brom.