Former Premier League referee Mike Dean has been axed as a VAR official due to his controversial VAR decisions.
While there are projections Dean may likely return to the VAR room, it has been confirmed for now he is off the VAR officials’ list in the Premier League.
The PGMOL – an association of Premier League referees charged with the responsibility of ensuring a hitch-free officiating in the Premier League – have not opened up on the removal of Mike Dean. However, it has been observed the 58-year-old has not been in the VAR room since February 11 when he took charge of Leicester City’s Premier League win over Tottenham.
Leicester City grabbed a shock 4-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the game with Dean going through the game as a VAR official unscathed.
He dotted all the “I’s” and crossed all the “T’s” perfectly but since then he has not returned to the VAR room.
The English football veteran is believed to be among the unfortunate casualties of Howard Webb’s (Head of PGMOL) attempt to sanitize the Premier League of every unnecessary error and defect, including VAR-linked errors.
One of the glaring errors Mike Dean and his co in the VAR room made was in Brentford’s Premier League game against Arsenal.
In the game, Christian Norgaard was offside when Ivan Toney struck the equaliser for the Bees but surprisingly the goal was allowed to stand with Dean and his VAR team unable to spot the offside in the build-up to the goal.
Two VAR officials, Mason and Brook, reportedly exited the stage after Howard Webb called for more accountability by the referees and VAR officials in charge of matches.
Now, Mike Dean has also been confirmed absent from the scene after his glaring and blatant VAR errors.
In Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Wolves in the Premier League, Dean failed to award Wolves a penalty when Goncalo Guedes was seemingly fouled by William Saliba in the box.
Dean also wrongly awarded a controversial penalty to Fulham in the game against Newcastle in January.
Another of his crazy error was when he failed to call the attention of center referee Anthony Taylor to Cristian Romero’s challenge on Marc Cucurella in Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham early in the season.
Cristian Romero was caught in a footage having his hands on Marc Cucurella’s hair during a corner kick that led to Tottenham’s stoppage-time equaliser against Chelsea.
After a careful review by pundits, the challenge was adjudged a foul and moreover a red card challenge but Dean overlook it from the VAR room.
The glaring mistakes have forced the PGMOL to take steps to arrest poor officiating and rid the game of officiating blunders – a move that has affected Mike Dean.
According to reports, it is less likely Mike Dean will return to the VAR room soon as PGMOL remains resolute in their aims to arrest both officiating and VAR blunders during matches.
