Mike Dean skipped VAR red-card review because referee was "a mate"

Former Premier League referee Mike Dean has admitted he chose not to send referee Anthony Taylor to the VAR monitor for a possible red card when Tottenham's Cristian Romero pulled Chelsea's Marc Cucurella by the hair in an August 2022 match. Dean told Jamie Vardy's podcast: "I didn't want to send him up because he is a mate as well as a referee."