Mike Dean launches into blue card rant as unpopular ex-Premier League referee has his say
News of a possible introduction of blue cards has sent shockwaves around the footballing world, and ex-Premier League referee Mike Deans knows exactly where he stands on the issue
Former Premier League referee Mike Dean has launched a scathing attack on the idea for blue cards, insisting they'll make football worse.
It emerged on Thursday that the International Football Association Board (IFAB) are planning to trial a sin-bin system using revolutionary blue cards to send players to the sidelines for 10 minutes for cynical fouls or dissent against officials.
The news sparked a ferocious public backlash, with baffled fans left wondering why changes no one had asked for were being implemented. Speaking on Sky Sports on Saturday, Dean agreed, asserting that lawmakers were "messing with the game too much."
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He also echoed Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou's thoughts by warning that blue cards would force teams into temporary tactical changes that could potentially ruin matches.
"It's making a mockery of the game, it's just going backwards," Dean fumed. "It's going to slow the game down. There will be a really good game 11 vs 11, and a person gets put in the sin-bin and all they're going to do then is defend for 10 minutes... and when the guy comes back on they'll go back to normal."
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The 55-year-old argued that the current system worked absolutely fine, and that players getting booked, rather than sin-binned, for cynical fouls was an appropriate punishment.
"Why do we need to bring blue cards in? I think it's absolutely pointless," Dean added. "I haven't heard one manager or players who is on board with this. If there are cynical fouls the players should just be yellow carded, it's as simple as that."
He conceded that sin-bins could be a good a deterrent for dissent towards refs, but suggested that officials being braver with issuing yellow cards in such circumstances would be equally as effective without changing the dynamic of the game.
IFAB were ready to announce plans for sin-bin trials on Friday, but an overtly negative response from the public forced them into a postponement. FIFA also released a hastily-written statement after the news broke, labelling plans to introduce blue cards "premature".
Dean was a Premier League ref for 22 years and has officiated more top flight matches than any else, with 521 games under his belt. He retired in 2022 following a major gaffe as VAR during Chelsea's 2-2 draw with Tottenham in which he refused to send referee Antony Taylor to the monitor despite the fact Cristian Romero pulled Marc Cucurella's hair seconds before Spurs' last-minute equaliser.
Startlingly, Dean would later admit he decided against sending Taylor to the pitch-side screen because he didn't want to give his "mate" any extra "grief".