Mike Dean admits he played 'no whistle' games in Premier League matches for a laugh

Former Premier League referee Mike Dean has admitted he deliberately avoided blowing his whistle for up to 25 minutes during live top-flight matches, describing the habit as a personal game he played “as a laugh” — revelations that have prompted widespread accusations of match-fixing on social media.

Dean made the comments on Jamie Vardy’s YouTube show, where the ex-official, who retired from on-field refereeing in 2022 after a 28-year career, described two informal challenges he set himself during matches. “There used to be games we had, as a laugh. We’d say, ‘We’ll kick off now, and see how long we can go without blowing a whistle,’” Dean explained. “I’ve done that a few times in the Premier League — before VAR, obviously. Went 20-25 minutes without blowing the whistle, let it go, let it go, let it go.”

He also revealed a second self-imposed challenge: seeing how long he could remain in the centre circle without being forced to move. “I used to see how long I could stay in the centre circle before I had to leave. That was just me joking about. The lads said, ‘You can’t’ — but I got about 15 minutes once, in one game.”

Vardy and his co-host laughed along, but the reaction online was far less amused. “Disgusting, how many games did that affect negatively?” wrote one user. “Is this not borderline match fixing?” asked another, while others labelled Dean a “clown” and “arrogant.”

The comments add to a growing list of post-retirement controversies surrounding Dean. During the 2022-23 season, his first as a full-time VAR official, he drew significant criticism for failing to send referee Anthony Taylor to the pitchside monitor during a 2-2 draw between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur — a match in which Cristian Romero appeared to pull the hair of Marc Cucurella. Dean later acknowledged he did not instruct Taylor to review the incident partly because Taylor was “a mate, as well as a referee.”

More recently, Dean attracted further scrutiny when he appeared to suggest on television that a foul on Rasmus Højlund during the Manchester derby did not warrant a penalty, reportedly saying “not in a game like this, mate” — a remark Gary Neville publicly disputed.

While Dean’s latest comments were framed as light-hearted anecdotes, the cumulative weight of his post-retirement disclosures has deepened scepticism among supporters about the standards of officiating during his tenure.