MIKE DEAN has asked not to officiate a game this week after he and his family received death threats.
The Premier League referee was criticised over his decision to send-off West Ham defender Tomas Soucek against Fulham at the weekend.
Mike Dean and his family have received death threats after he sent-off West Ham’s Tomas SoucekCredit: Rex Features
The veteran ref was blasted for sending-off West Ham’s Tomas SoucekCredit: PA:Press Association
He was dismissed for an elbow on Aleksandar Mitrovic as the pair jostled.
But it was clearly accidental and Hammers boss David Moyes claimed Dean and VAR official Lee Mason should be ‘embarrassed’ over their decision.
The Hammers instantly lodged an appeal with the Football Association as their star faced a three-match ban.
Soucek’s appeal against his card following the clash with Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic was upheld by FA disciplinary chiefs today, allowing him to play at Old Trafford in tomorrow’s FA Cup tie.
The FA confirmed West Ham had successfully argued the Czech midfielder was ‘wrongfully dismissed’ after Dean had agreed with VAR Lee Mason that Soucek had deliberately elbowed the Serb.
But Wembley chiefs will be more concerned with the abuse and threats directed at Dean and his family.
It was the second controversial incident involving Dean in four days after his red card for Southampton’s Jan Bednarek at United was also overturned on appeal.
The veteran referee was shocked by the abuse thrown the way of his family in the aftermath of the last incident at Craven Cottage.
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Dean’s red card shown to Bednarek against Manchester United was overturnedCredit: Times Newspapers Ltd
And a shaken Dean, who reported the messages to the police, has asked Prem refs’ chiefs to take him off duty this weekend.
PGMOL boss Mike Riley said: “Threats and abuse of this nature are totally unacceptable and we fully support Mike’s decisions 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.”
Dean is still due to take charge of Leicester’s FA Cup fifth round tie with Brighton on Wednesday, although a final decision will be taken shortly.
But his request to be taken off Prem duty next weekend – swiftly accepted by Riley – demonstrated the concern at the nature of the abuse.
A Merseyside Police spokesperson said: “We can confirm officers are investigating allegations of malicious communications reported today.
“The reports relate to social media accounts and enquiries are ongoing. We monitor the internet, and if we identify any offences we will take action.”
It comes after a further weekend of racist social media abuse to black players including Manchester United’s Axel Tuanzebe.
Culture secretary Oliver Dowden has again pledged to bring in tougher sanctions against social media companies for allowing online hate to fester on their platforms.
Mike Dean chuckles away as Oli McBurnie is hit in the privates
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
