PREMIER LEAGUE clubs have opened their own internal probes into former ref Mike Dean – after he claimed to have played “mini-games” while in charge of top-flight matches.
Now Dean is under pressure to explain or clarify his comments.
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But the suggestion that he may have been in gross dereliction of his officiating duties during Prem matches has seen a number of top club chiefs asking their video match analyst teams if they can find any evidence of misconduct.
Dean, 58, stepped down as a Prem ref in 2022 but worked as a VAR the following campaign.
The Wirral-based ex-whistler embarrassed Pro Ref bosses and caused outrage after his comments on the Jamie Vardy podcast.
Dean suggested he would set himself challenges in matches, including seeing how long he could go from the start of a match without blowing his whistle, which was up to “20, 25 minutes”.
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He also claimed to have stood in the centre circle for “about 15 minutes” after the start of another game.
Dean’s apparent admissions brought shock, anger and disbelief at the refs’ organisation Pro Ref, where he is felt to have fallen into the trap of becoming little more than an attention-seeker.
Pro Ref does not believe there is anything to back up the comments, with some convinced Dean was simply playing to the audience.
Nevertheless, it has become an unwanted issue at the start of a campaign in which refs’ chief Howard Webb wants to make his officials more accountable for their decision-making.
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Mark Halsey’s verdict
Here are the thoughts of SunSport’s Whistleblower…
In my 14 seasons as a Premier League referee and three seasons in the Football League, I have never heard of these games Mike is talking about.
I have spoken to other officials and they have never heard of them either.
I would never, ever dream of that sort of thing when I refereed a football match.
It’s so hard, and it’s so important for the players and fans.
This revelation has brought the integrity of all match officials into question.
Now, what we need to know is, if he did decide to play these games, what games did he play them in?
Was it every game? Was it just some games?
I’m sorry, but for me, I just cannot see how it is possible. I really can’t.
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Webb took charge of the organisation after Dean hung up his whistle and oversaw his departure from the VAR list.
SunSport’s Whistleblower, Dean’s former colleague Mark Halsey, dismissed the boasts – which referred back to the pre-VAR era – as “nonsense” and accused the former ref of being on an “ego trip”.
Another ex-Prem ref, Graham Scott, described Dean’s claims as “dispiriting clickbait”.
Nevertheless, a number of clubs with long-standing gripes over Dean have now instructed their video analysis teams to investigate any footage which might suggest he used their matches to entertain himself.
Dean’s career saw him regularly in the firing line.
He admitted he had failed to intervene as a VAR when Spurs defender Cristian Romero pulled Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella by the hair before a late Tottenham equaliser at Stamford Bridge in 2023.
Four years earlier, then-Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino accused Dean of mocking his side’s flagging title challenge after a defeat at Burnley during a post-match confrontation.
Dean was also accused of being “not honest” by Arsene Wenger after awarding a late equalising penalty against Arsenal at West Brom in 2017.