Cundy brands ex-referee Dean a 'liar' over Premier League centre-circle claims

Jason Cundy launched a fierce on-air attack on retired Premier League referee Mike Dean on Tuesday, calling him a “liar” after Dean claimed to have played private games during matches he officiated — including attempting to remain in the centre circle for as long as possible and seeing how long he could go without blowing his whistle.

Dean, who retired as a top-flight official in 2022 and has since become a regular pundit, made the claims during a recent podcast appearance. The stories quickly drew widespread scepticism, with some Mirror readers calling on the FA to investigate the 58-year-old.

Cundy, speaking on talkSPORT, was unequivocal in his verdict. “Liar. He’s a liar. I don’t believe a word that’s come out of his mouth,” he said. “You cannot stand as a referee for 15 minutes in the centre circle. He’d get done. Go to every game that he refereed in the Premier League. It’s rubbish, he’s a liar.”

The former defender also took aim at Dean’s claim about waving play on for extended periods. “The other one when he was waving ‘Play on, play on’ for 20 minutes — I don’t know what’s going on inside his head, but that’s absolute BS.”

Beyond the question of truthfulness, Cundy argued that Dean’s comments cause real damage to the officials currently working in the game, who already face intense scrutiny and abuse from supporters. “All you are doing is making the referees who have followed your path, where every single referee and every single decision is scrutinised, and he’s sat there with his legs crossed laughing and joking about something that is so important,” Cundy said.

“Now we have someone who is sitting there, smug, laughing, trying to make light of one of the most important jobs in football, every Saturday, when we follow our football club, and he’s making a joke about trying to stay in the football circle.”

Cundy is not alone in his scepticism. Ex-Premier League referee Graham Scott described Dean’s claims as “nonsense”, while former official Mark Halsey told BBC Sport he had never encountered such behaviour in all his years as a professional referee. “All my years as a professional referee, I have to say I’ve never heard of these games. Never,” Halsey said.