Mike Dean, a Video Assistant Referee primarily in the English Premier League has said he got it wrong during a match between Chelsea and Tottenham on Saturday, August 13 2022 at Stamford Bridge.
Dean, 54-year-old admitted that he was wrong and he shouldn’t have allowed the play to continue after Sergio Romero pulled Marc Cucurella to the ground by his hair.
It was learnt that the England international nodded past Edouard Mendy from a corner to send the away fans crazy.
However, the corner before saw Spurs defender Romero aggressively launch Cucurella to the floor by yanking his hair down. Referee Anthony Taylor, though looking straight at the incident, did not see anything wrong before VAR intervened.
Dean, who has retired from refereeing on the pitch, was watching the footage that showed clear violent conduct but made no decision. It saw play continue and Kane score the equaliser, though the Wirral whistler now admits he got it wrong.
He said: “I’ve now had time to reflect on Sunday’s clash at Stamford Bridge. I was VAR at Stockley Park and in the days after that 2-2 draw between Chelsea and Tottenham, we had meetings as part of our regular camps to discuss what happened in that and other matches.
As for the second goal by Harry Kane, I asked referee Anthony Taylor to wait while I looked at the incident involving Tottenham’s Cristian Romero and Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella. I could not award a free-kick as VAR, but I could recommend to Taylor that he visit the referee review area to consider a possible red card.
In the few seconds I had to study Romero pulling Cucurella’s hair, I didn’t deem it a violent act. I’ve since studied the footage, spoken to other referees and, upon reflection, I should have asked Taylor to visit his pitch-side monitor to take a look for himself.
The referee on field always has the final say. It goes to show that no matter how experienced you are, and I’ve spent more than two decades as a Premier League official, you are always learning.
“It’s disappointing for me as this was one incident in an otherwise very good weekend from our officials. Decisions are debated – that’s the life of a referee. There were some perfectly officiated games elsewhere, like Liverpool against Crystal Palace on Monday night which capped a great weekend of Premier League football.”
