Mike Dean issues Premier League referees with demand - 'Just make the decision!'

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Mike Dean has told top flight referees to pretend VAR doesn't exist - and have more faith in their big decisions during games.

VAR continues to divide opinion when it comes to the Premier League . Critics have cited numerous grievances with the system, including a lack of transparency and the inability of officials to review decisions on pitch side monitors. But former referee Dean has urged officials to pretend VAR is not available - and stop relying on it to help them out when a mistake is made.

Dean, speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet, said: "I think the referees should go out there and ref as if the VAR is not there. I've done it before when we had the VAR. I made a mistake and my mate will bail me out, I'll get away with it. That's not what VAR is there for. It's for clear and obvious errors.

"If you go out and referee the way you've always refereed - you've got to that level in the Premier League by being a bloody good referee - you just have to carry on and do the same things week in, week out.

"If you make a mistake, yes (VAR), they will help you out, but don't go out and think 'I won't give it, and if I'm wrong, he'll help me out'. Just make the decision on the pitch."

Dean, who retired in 2022, claims the biggest games are handed to a pool of certain referees which is too small.

He added: "I don’t think the list is as deep as what it should be. There's too many of the bigger referees that get the big games all the time - and that's not right. There's too much pressure on them week-in, week-out.

"There’s going to come a time where one of their games will go tits up, and people will say they shouldn't referee those games. The list below them, there's not enough guys that are pushing them to do those 'golden games'".