Dean avoided VAR call to save Taylor ‘more grief’

Former official Mike Dean has claimed he decided not to alert a fellow official to a missed call via the VAR system during the past campaign’s league game between Chelsea and Tottenham because he wanted to pardon him from “more grief.”

Mike, who now shares that he regrets what he did, was the VAR during a 2-2 draw in Chelsea’s stadium 12 months ago when Tottenham’s Cristian Romero pulled Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella to the ground by his hair.

Anthony Taylor didn’t give a foul, and Spurs netted a goal in the extra time to win a point from the match.

“I missed the stupid hair pull at the Blues versus Spurs, which was pathetic from my point of view,” the ex-referee shared to the Up Front podcast. “It’s one of them where if I had to do it again, what would I do? I’d send Taylor to view himself the situation.”

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Mike Dean admitting he didn’t do anything as VAR ref last season for the Chelsea hair pull vs Spurs as he didn’t want to cause his mate Antony Taylor grief confirms everything fans moan about every week. Arrogant, biased, incompetent officiating to look after your mates

— Mark Goldbridge (@markgoldbridge) August 25, 2023