Mike Dean was on VAR duty last season when Chelsea played out a dramatic 2-2 draw with Tottenham.
Mike Dean has incredibly revealed he missed a blatant VAR error because he was keen to protect his friend Anthony Taylor. The remarkable admission was made in reference to last season’s 2-2 draw between Chelsea and Tottenham at Stamford Bridge when Cristian Romero somehow escaped punishment for pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair..
The match was best remembered for the iconic, fiery full-time handshake between Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte in west London.
But the stunning comments have already caught the attention of furious Chelsea fans, who are outraged that external factors entered Dean’s thinking when sat in the VAR chair.
Dean told Up Front with Simon Jordan: “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.
“I said to Anthony afterwards: ‘I just didn’t want to send you to the screen after what has gone on in the game’. I didn’t want to send him up because he is a mate as well as a referee and I think I didn’t want to send him up because I didn’t want any more grief than he already had..
Anthony, he is big and bald and ugly enough to know if he is going to the screen he is going to the screen for a reason. If someone pulls their hair now it’s dead easy. It’s just a brainwave by me, a really bad call by me, and it kind of affected me as VAR going forward.”
This summer, Dean decided to step down from his position as video assistant referee.
