Dean admits ignoring VAR name to guard referee in Chelsea vs Spurs
Dean was the Video Assistant Referee for the 2-2 draw, which noticed Spurs defender Cristian Romero escape a probable pink card, when he pulled Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella to the bottom by his hair.
On-field referee Anthony Taylor missed the incident, and Spurs seconds later scored a last-gasp equaliser by means of Harry Kane, and Dean has admitted he didn’t alert his colleague to the incident as a result of he needed to spare him “more grief”.
“I missed the stupid hair pull at Chelsea versus Tottenham which was pathetic from my point of view,” Dean instructed the Up Front podcast. “It’s one of them were if I had my time again, what would I do? I’d send Anthony to the screen.
Marc Cucurella falls to the floor after Cristian Romero’s hair pull
/ Action Images via Reuters“I mentioned to Anthony afterward: ‘I simply did not need to ship you to the display screen after what has gone on within the recreation’.
“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.”
Dean, who refereed greater than 550 matches within the prime flight and have become a full-time VAR official final season, was taken off VAR obligation for 2 months after the controversial match.
In July the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) mentioned Dean was stepping down from the position and leaving the referees’ physique.
“That was a major error. If they don’t score from the corner it is not as big an issue,” mentioned Dean, who had acknowledged his mistake on the time of the incident and says VAR obligation used to depart him “dreading” matchdays.
“I knew full well I would be stood down the week after. I asked to take a bit of time off because it wasn’t for me.
“I used to get within the automobile on a Friday and was dreading Saturday. I used to be considering, ‘I hope nothing occurs’ … I was petrified sitting within the chair.”
Additional reporting by Reuters.