Mike Dean, historic referee of the English league, revealed that he and his assistants would propose different bets to entertain themselves during the matches
An anecdote that seemed destined to remain among laughs and locker room memories ended up raising questions in English football. Mike Dean, one of the most recognized referees in the Premier League, revealed some particular challenges he undertook with his assistants during matches and his statements sparked criticism.
The former referee, who officiated for 22 seasons in the top English division and retired at the end of the 2021-2022 season, shared the situation during his appearance on the podcast Having a Party, hosted by forward Jamie Vardy. There, he explained that he maintained a sort of informal competition with the assistant referees to see how long they could let the game continue without calling fouls.
"We played with the assistant referees, just to have a laugh. We would say: 'Okay, let's see how long we can go without blowing the whistle'. I did it a couple of times in the Premier, before VAR, obviously. We went between 20 and 25 minutes without blowing the whistle... We just let it go, go, go", Dean recounted.
The 58-year-old former referee also detailed another of those challenges, which involved staying in the center circle for as long as possible. "I would stay in the center circle, to see how long I could remain there before having to leave. The guys (his assistants) would tell me from the sidelines 'you can't do that' and I would say 'I'm going to try'. Once I managed to stay for about 15 minutes in a match without leaving there", he shared.
His revelations quickly generated repercussions. According to The Guardian, the refereeing body Pro Ref received the former referee's claims with bewilderment, as they consider it unlikely that such situations could persist for that long in Premier League matches.
The controversy takes on greater significance due to Dean's career, having officiated over 500 matches, most of them highly significant, and being marked as the referee who showed the most red cards in the history of the championship, with 114 expulsions.
The statements were also not well received by former participants in the competition. Gabriel Agbonlahor, former forward of Aston Villa, harshly criticized Dean and recalled their contentious relationship. "I never got along with Mike Dean. He is the type of referee who gives it back to the players. He had that arrogance. I would say he is an idiot. It's the perfect word for him. Now I think about matches and say: 'You were officiating matches and you were joking around',” the former footballer shot back.
Dean managed over 500 matches during 22 seasons
"It's like: ‘How long can we go without calling a foul or leaving the center circle?’. Referees should be moving up and down so they don't miss anything, and back then there was no VAR. So you could have missed penalties or fouls because you wanted to joke around and stay in the center circle", he added.
Thus, what Dean presented as an anecdote from his years in the Premier has once again put the spotlight on English officiating. His confessions about those particular “games” have opened the debate on how compatible such practices are with the responsibility of officiating matches in the country's top league.
