Mike Dean has claimed that he failed to rectify Anthony Taylor‘s error during the Chelsea-Tottenham match because the two are “friends.”
Cristian Romero yanked the hair of Marc Cucurella in the penalty area at a corner during the tense match between the Blues and Spurs last season, with the score 2-1 in injury time.
Spurs got a second corner, from which Harry Kane scored an equalizer in the 96th minute. Dean has since acknowledged that he chose not to intervene because he did not want to cause Taylor “any grief” by bringing him to the VAR screen because of their friendship.
Speaking on Up Front with Simon Jordan, Dean said: “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.”
Given that Romero should have been sent off, Dean’s admission is unlikely to elicit much compassion from fans, particularly those who support Chelsea. The encounter between the two clubs concluded in red cards for both managers at the time, Antonio Conte and Thomas Tuchel.
Taylor will referee Brighton’s game against West Ham this Saturday, despite Dean’s retirement.
