Football fans are calling for former referee Mike Dean to be investigated over his admission that he used to play ‘minigames’ when officiating Premier League matches.
Dean, 58, retired from refereeing in 2023 after over 20 years of officiating at the highest level in English football.
Now that the dust has settled on his professional career in the game, Dean has admitted to playing a game where he would see how long he could go without blowing his whistle during Premier League matches.
The ex-official also revealed that he would try and stay in the centre circle for as long as he could during some games.
‘There used to be games we would have for a laugh,’ Dean said on Jamie Vardy’s Having a Party podcast.
‘It would kick-off, right; see how long we could go without blowing a whistle. I done that a few times in the Premier League, before VAR, obviously. Went 20, 25 minutes without blowing the whistle.’
Mike Dean has admitted to sometimes trying to see how long he could go without blowing his whistle when refereeing Premier League matches
Dean was a professional referee in English football for over 20 years before retiring in 2023
Dean continued: ‘I used to do another one in the Premier League, I used to stand in the centre circle and see how long I could stay in the centre circle before I had to leave. That was just me joking about. Got about 15 minutes once, in one game.’
His comments have raised eyebrows within the refereeing community, with senior figures questioning the plausibility of his claim given the lack of detail.
According to senior officials, Dean provided no indication of when these alleged ‘minigames’ took place. He also claimed they occurred before VAR was introduced for the 2019-20 season, meaning any such incidents would have taken place under previous leadership – and current bosses are insistent that ‘integrity and impartiality’ are at the heart of referees’ decision-making.
Nevertheless, Dean’s revelations have sparked outrage within the football community, with many fans taking to social media to voice their displeasure. One X user even claimed that Dean should be investigated.
They wrote: ‘Why the f***‘s he admitting to this? “Oooh look at me I ruined the integrity of top level football matches while getting paid a f***ing fortune for a laugh”. And people wonder why we all think refs are ****.’
Dean admitted, somewhat dismissively, that sometimes there was an element of wanting to be the ‘centre of attention’ when he was on the field.
‘It’s about wanting to be more a part of the game than what I should have been,’ Dean said. ‘If you play an advantage and it works off, you do celebrate it; if you get a decision right you kind of want to celebrate.
‘I’d celebrate with the lads in my ear pieces and stuff. If you play an advantage and somebody scores, I think it’s great. Love it.’
But despite his prior explanations to Vardy, whom he officiated several times while the striker played for Leicester, fans found his declaration ‘baffling’.
Well-known X account, @HLTCO, wrote: ‘Yeah, not like your job was to officiate games properly. Mike Dean has said stuff like this before, Clattenburg has openly talked about letting teams self-destruct too. They seem to think it makes them sound like lads. Baffling mentality.’
Dean revealed his ‘minigames’ when speaking on Jamie Vardy’s podcast, and his quotes have caused outrage
Another person added: ‘“Professional” referee by the way. This is something you would expect from a Sunday league keeper who’s earning pittance to get abused.
‘What an absolute f***ing ****. Always behaved like he was more important than the game being played around him.’
A different account wrote: ‘How about, and I might be going out on a limb here, concentrating on officiating the matches properly rather than playing silly little games with yourself. Mike Dean thinking this makes him sound like a right lad is baffling to me.’
One football fan believed there should be further furore about what they deem ‘corruption’, despite the already high number of disapproving takes.
‘I’m sorry but how is this guy not being taken to the cleaners for brazenly admitting this s*** in public???
‘The first part about seeing how long he could go without blowing whistle is actually corruption, bc that’s tacitly admitting to altering outcomes…’
