Mike Dean has requested permission to miss the next round of Premier League fixtures after the referee received death threats, according to a report.
West Ham have successfully appealed against referee Dean’s decision to send off the Tomas Soucek for catching Aleksandar Mitrovic with his elbow by accident in Saturday’s goalless draw against Fulham.
Dean checked the replays on the pitchside monitor after consulting VAR Lee Mason and decided the incident merited a straight red.
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And The Times reports that Dean ‘has asked not to be involved in any Premier League matches next weekend after death threats against him were sent to family members’.
Dean was ‘targeted by the online threats’ which he has reported to the police after he awarded the Czech midfielder a red card.
The experienced referee ‘will continue with his planned appointment to referee Leicester City v Brighton in the FA Cup in midweek’ but wants to be pardoned from the next set of Premier League fixtures over the weekend.
NEW: Death threats against referee Mike Dean were sent to his family over weekend + he has asked not to be involved in any Premier League match next week. Follows West Ham red card controversy. Full story on @TimesSport at 12
— Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) February 8, 2021
Professional Games Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL) managing director Mike Riley commented: “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 a 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.”
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