Mike Dean insists he has ‘no regrets’ over Premier League referee career in first appearance since ‘mini-games’ claim

MIKE DEAN said he has “no regrets” about his refereeing career in his first appearance since his sensational claims about playing ‘games’ during Prem fixtures. The former Premier League referee, 58, caused uproar when he told Jamie Vardy‘s podcast about the alleged challenges. Mike Dean has said he has no regrets over his refereeing career on his Soccer Saturday appearance It was his first appearance since his sensational claims that he played mini ‘games’ while reffing Prem matches Credit: youtube One involved seeing how long he could go in a game without blowing his whistle, while another involved trying to stay in the centre circle for as long as possible. The comments triggered strong reactions from fans, clubs and referee chiefs, with responses varying from fury to disbelief. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! And now Dean has addressed the controversy on viewers’ screens as he made an appearance on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday, with host Simon Thomas joking about him having a “quiet week” as he offered him the opportunity to clear the air. Dean said “As a referee my threshold was always high as a ref not to give free kicks or as minimum amount of free kicks as I can. If I can keep the game flowing, I’ll keep it flowing. “Yes, if I have got to step in I would give the free kick, but it is one of those things you learn by mistakes. “Obviously I have said something this week that has come out a little bit wrong. I think I could have worded it a bit better than what I said, but we live and learn and hopefully we can move on from it.” When asked about whether he ever deliberately misapplied the laws of the game, he added: “No because if I did I wouldn’t have got as many games as I did, and I wouldn’t have been on the list for 25 years. “I did my job properly and professionally for the full 25 years. I’ve got no regrets the way I refereed the game of football. Most read in Sport CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS “I enjoyed what I did and I think the players enjoyed what I did as well. “It’s one of those comments where if you had your time again you wouldn’t say it, but it’s been said now and it’s been out there. There’s nothing else I can do now.” The referee is a regular fixture on Soccer Saturday, where he lends his officiating expertise to the panel as they analyse the day’s football action. The appearance comes just a day after he released a statement reiterating that he always applied his whistle appropriately while officiating – though he did not reference the games themselves. He wrote to his Instagram account: “Throughout my 25 years as a professional referee, I have always applied the laws of the game to the best of my ability. “My approach as a referee was always to allow the game to flow and whenever possible I preferred to apply a high threshold for contact which the players liked. “However, if I saw a foul challenge that needed me to take the appropriate action I would give it from the correct position. “At no stage was it my intention to question, criticise or undermine the integrity of refereeing in this country. The former official’s comments sparked outrage among fans, clubs and referees Credit: Getty Watch the latest SunSport video series “I have always respected the profession and the responsibility that comes with being a referee.” Much of the furious response to Dean’s claims stemmed from the implication that he let the game run in order to see how long he could go without stopping play. He told Vardy’s show: “There used to be games we’d have, as a laugh. “We used to say, ‘we’ll kick-off now, right, see how long we can go without blowing a whistle’. “I done that a few times in the Premier League, before VAR obviously. Went 20, 25 minutes without blowing a whistle. “Few times… let it go, let it go, let it go.” Insiders on the crew of Vardy’s show told SunSport they did not take the claims seriously at the time, explaining: “We didn’t think he was being serious. “It felt like he just wanted to be one of the lads and say some funny stuff. It felt like he wanted to have a bit of banter to be one of the lads.” But the boasts set fans off searching for the match in question, with football content creator Adam Cleary claiming he had found one example of the referee going 19 minutes before blowing his whistle in a 2016 clash between Manchester United and West Brom. Comment now