Referee Mike Dean Receives Death Threats Soccer

[Tom]

What has happened?

Dean, 52, has contacted the police. His family received a number of threats, death threats and abusive messages.

The referee took charge of Fulham and West Ham on Saturday and sent off Soucek after being told to review an incident involving the player by the video assistant referee.

And what comes next?

Dean will still take charge of Wednesday night's game between Leicester and Brighton in the FA Cup.

But he has requested not to be included in the list of referees for this coming weekend's Premier League games.

He has not been pulled off the list of games, as no referees have yet been assigned to matches for the weekend.

What have the police said?

Merseyside Police said: "We can confirm officers are investigating allegations of malicious communications reported today, Monday 8 February.

"The reports relate to social media accounts and enquiries are ongoing."

Has he been involved in any other recent controversies?

Yes. He also sent off Southampton defender Jan Bednarek in his previous clash while refereeing their game against Manchester United.

There were doubts over it was the correct call to dismiss Bednarek, with Dean only making the decision after a review. He had already given a penalty for the foul on Anthony Martial.

What has been said about the decision?

Mike Riley, the general manager of Professional Games Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) 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 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."

 

[Tom]

So Mike Dean has personally asked to be taken off Premier League duty this weekend, as he has received death threats about the red cards he has issued recently.

I'm all for holding referees accountable for their actions but no one should have to suffer that!

 

[Birdman]

Agreed. Utter imbeciles whoever threatens anyone because of a football game.

Completely separate from the above, given his shocking decisions, he should not have been in consideration for Premier League duty this weekend.

 

[Best]

It is beyond a joke, have to say, I'm delighted I'm not on twitter, seems to be a cesspool of hate, where there is no punishment for any crime committed.

 

[Random Guy]

Referees are physically abused up and down the country every weekend.

The treatment of them in general, by football, is a disgrace.

The clubs, and players, need to do a far better job of leading from the front with showing respect for the referees. Seeing them as an enemy is a contributing factor to all of this, imo.

Mic the referees up, as in rugby, so that we get a better understanding of the process and perspective - and harshly punish players for acts of descent or aggression towards the referee.

 

[Fraser]

At the end of the day its only football, nobody should be subject to abuse or death threats for doing their job no matter how bad of a job they are doing. It's absolutely idiotic behaviour. The beautiful game has a very ugly side to it

 

[David76]

Mic the referees up, as in rugby, so that we get a better understanding of the process and perspective - and harshly punish players for acts of descent or aggression towards the referee.

Have them mic'd up, activate the mic during discussions with players/managers/officials.

Also, tell the players they will be booked if they curse while talking to the ref.

 

[Tom]

Have them mic'd up, activate the mic during discussions with players/managers/officials.

Also, tell the players they will be booked if they curse while talking to the ref.

I like the way it works in rugby but different sport, different rules, I just don't think it would ever work for football.

VAR was brought in to be like the TMO in rugby and imo has been a complete mess.

There would be hundreds of yellows for cursing in football if it was brought in

 

[Snoops]

The standard of refereeing in the Premier League is shocking. The introduction of VAR has only further highlighted it. Don't forget the persons making the decisions through VAR are the referees themselves. VAR is inconsistent because the refs implementing it on any given match day are so inconsistent not because the idea itself is flawed. The standard of refereeing in the Champions League, for example, is much better.

No referee deserves abuse though. Soccer has a lot to learn from rugby in that regard. It still exists among fans of rugby over social media but the rugby authorities at least attempt to tackle it on the field. I enjoy the fact that rugby refs are mic'd up, that they actually engage with players and explain their decisions, that they are not surrounded and hounded by screaming players and there is no tolerance for backchat. It sets an example for players and fans at lower levels.

On the subject of rugby and VAR, I think soccer can learn something there too. Compare how the offside line or even whether a pass if forwards or backwards is reffed by the TMO to how soccer implements VAR for offside calls. No line drawing in rugby. If it is not obviously forward or offside the onfield decision stands. No arguments. No major delays.