Mirror readers have called on the Football Association to investigate former Premier League referee Mike Dean after he admitted to playing secret games while officiating top-flight matches. The 58-year-old, who retired as a top-flight official in 2022, sparked controversy on Thursday when he revealed the 'games' he used to play, including seeing how long he could go without blowing the whistle or leaving the centre circle.
Dean's confession on podcast
Dean made the confession during an appearance on Jamie Vardy's Having a Party podcast. He said: "There used to be games that we used to have, as a laugh, we used to say, 'Right, we'll kick off now, right? See how long we can go without blowing a whistle.'"
"Done that a few times in the Premier, before VAR obviously. Went 20–25 minutes without blowing a whistle a few times. Let it go, let it go, let it go."
He added: "I used to do another thing 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. The lads used to be on the line saying 'you can't'. I said 'I'll try it'. I just used to run around but don't come out of it. Got about 15 minutes once in one game, without leaving the centre circle."
Readers demand investigation
Mirror Football ran a poll asking readers whether there should be an investigation into Dean's comments, and the consensus was clear. With more than 500 votes cast, 71 per cent believed that Dean's remarks call for an investigation, while the remaining 29 per cent said that no further action was needed.
Pro Ref have refused to comment on the matter, but fans have criticised Dean and called for authorities to look into his comments. Dean spent 22 years as a top-flight referee before serving 12 months as a video assistant referee and calling time on his career as a football official in 2023.
Former referee dismisses claims
A report in BBC Sport has claimed that refereeing figures believe Dean's comments to be 'unfounded'. Former Premier League referee Graham Scott recently criticised the remarks made by Dean, labelling them as 'nonsense'.
"I worked with Mike [Dean] loads at times, they're not true stories," Scott told talkSPORT. "It's kind of the audio equivalent of clickbait isn't it, to try and get people interested and laughing. It's palpable nonsense."
"Mike Dean [was] of course an outstanding ref, but it makes it so much harder when retired referees either bash their former colleagues for the sake of it. It's fine to criticise, I do that, but do it with a bit of context and a bit of empathy."
Scott later added: "I challenge Mike and say, 'Okay, would you stand in front of the current refs and repeat all of those things?' And of course he wouldn't, because they're not true."
Mirror Football has approached the FA for comment regarding Dean's comments.
