Referee Mike Dean asks to be WITHDRAWN from Premier League games after he and his family received death threats over his now-overturned red card for West Ham’s Tomas Soucek
- Premier League referee Mike Dean and his family have been sent death threats
- It comes after a series of high-profile and controversial calls in recent matches
- Dean’s red cards for Tomas Soucek and Jan Bednarek last week were rescinded
- As the VAR, Dean also denied Southampton a penalty for a blatant handball
- It led the Saints to request they not be officiated by either Dean or Lee Mason
Premier League referee Mike Dean and his family have received death threats in the aftermath of a series of high-profile, controversial decisions.
Dean, 52, has reported the threats to Merseyside Police and has been asked to not be put in charge of a Premier League match this weekend. He will still take charge of Wednesday’s FA Cup game between Brighton and Leicester.
Sportsmail understands the abuse was sent on social media platforms and, while Dean is known to be a resilient character within the PremierLeague hierarchy, the threats to his family were a step too far.
Referee Mike Dean has received death threats after a series of controversial decisions
Dean showed West Ham’s Tomas Soucek (centre) a red card in Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Fulham for appearing to raise his elbow into the face of striker Aleksandar Mitrovic
The Czech midfielder’s elbow made contact with Fulham striker Mitrovic’s face on Saturday
Dean and wife Karam have two daughters, Zara and Brittany, and live in the Wirral.
He was scheduled to take a break from officiating duties this weekend, however, it is usual for referees to stand in as the fourth official or a VAR. Assignments had not yet been allocated by the Premier League but Dean requested that he not be included.
Mike Riley, managing director of the Professional Games Match Officials Ltd – who oversee referees for the Premier League, EFL and FA Cup, said: ‘Threats and abuse of this nature are totally unacceptable and we fully support Mike’s decision to report these messages his family received to the police.
‘Nobody should be a victim of abhorrent messages like this. Online abuse is unacceptable in any walk of life and more needs to be done to tackle the problem.’
Dean has had two red cards overturned in two consecutive matches following his dismissals of West Ham’s Tomas Soucek and Jan Bednarek of Southampton.
His most recent contentious call came in Saturday’s game between Fulham and West Ham where he decided to show Soucek a straight red card for violent conduct.
Dean (left) also controversially sent off Jan Bednarek in Southampton’s 9-0 defeat by United
Working as the VAR, Dean denied Danny Ings a stoppage-time equaliser against Aston Villa because his ‘sleeve’ was offside
Replays showed Soucek lift his elbow in the direction of Aleksandar Mitrovic but it seemed clear there was no malicious intent from the Czech midfielder.
Despite a lengthy video check, in which Dean watched several replays on the pitch-side monitor along with VAR Lee Mason, the official was adamant it was a sending off.
The decision led West Ham boss David Moyes to say he was ’embarrassed’ for Dean at full time. Soucek’s red card has now been rescinded by football’s authorities.
The spotlight was already on the Dean and Mason partnership after they made questionable calls in two recent matches involving Southampton.
It led the south-coast club to request both be kept away from their games in the coming weeks and it is now claimed the PGMOL was considering separating them.
Aston Villa’s Matty Cash appeared to clearly handle in the box last week at St Mary’s – but Southampton weren’t awarded a penalty
Dean – the VAR official on this occasions – watched almost two minutes of replays before deciding no penalty
Dean was in charge for Southampton’s 9-0 defeat at Old Trafford last week, with Mason on fourth-official duties again. Alexandre Jankewitz was correctly sent off after two minutes but Southampton ended the game with nine men after Bednarek was dismissed late on. Che Adams had a goal ruled out for a borderline offside, too.
Bednarek saw red late on after Anthony Martial went down in the box following minimal contact with the Polish defender. Bednarek was later picked up on camera telling a member of Southampton staff that Martial had said the incident was not a foul.
Southampton have since won their appeal against the sending off and the FA have lifted his suspension.
Just days before, the roles were reversed and Dean was on VAR duty for Southampton’s game with Aston Villa while Mason was the referee at St Mary’s.
Southampton were controversially denied a penalty following what appeared to be a blatant Matty Cash handball. They also had a Danny Ings goal ruled out for a marginal offside.
Dean become the first referee to oversee 500 Premier League games when he took charge of Arsenal against Sheffield United at the Emirates last season. He has refereed in the Premier League since the year 2000.