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Referee Mike Dean reveals his daughter was sent death threats after a game
Published 17:03 4 Apr 2022 BST
Homesport
Dean recently announced he would be retiring from refereeing
Outgoing Premier League referee Mike Dean has revealed that his daughter was sent death threats after he officiated a game in 2021. Dean recently announced that he would be hanging up the whistle after almost 22 years as an official. While the 53-year-old has largely become a popular figure in football - and is well known for not being afraid to show a red card - he hasn't always been the most popular figure. During an interview with BBC's Football Focus, Dean revealed that his daughter was once sent death threats after he refereed a game between West Ham United and Fulham. Dean sent off Thomas Soucek after he appeared to elbow Aleksandar Mitrovic in the face - which led to Dean checking the VAR monitor following guidance from the officials at Stockley Park. However, the decision was met with anger from West Ham fans and Dean revealed that the hate went too far.
'They were going to petrol bomb the house'
"My daughter got death threats," he said. "They were saying they knew where we lived and they were going to petrol bomb the house. It was pretty bad. "I told the Premier League; they got the police involved. I reported it to the police and they came around."'My family was affected pretty badly for a couple of weeks'
Dean even said he had to take time off refereeing after he and his family were affected by the news."My family was affected pretty badly for a couple of weeks," he said.
"I just took myself off games as I wasn't in the right frame of mind.
"I am a pretty strong person at times. I can be weak at other times. I had to be strong for the family that week. It was tough.
"I had West Ham four weeks later and I was surprised to get it so soon. I apologised to Soucek but he came over and was great."
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