Mike Dean removed from match official duty for Chelsea vs. Tottenham

By now we’ve all heard about the confrontation between Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino and match official Mike Dean. The two got in each other’s faces at the end of Spurs’ 2-1 loss to Burnley at Turf Moor, a rare incident of Mauricio Pochettino losing his cool with an official.

Now, thanks to that incident which could result in Pochettino being fined by the Premier League, Dean has been removed from his responsibilities for Wednesday’s match between Chelsea and Spurs. Dean was scheduled to serve as the fourth official.

Nobody’s quite sure what prompted the dust-up between Poch and Dean. Pochettino was unhappy about a blown call that resulted in Burnley scoring their first goal off of a corner kick, and apparently made his feelings known to Dean after the match. But as he turned away, Dean said something which caused Pochettino and assistant manager Jesus Perez to turn back around and angrily confront Dean. Pochettino refused to discuss what was said in the post-match press conference and indicated that he intended to apologize to Dean.

Dean, for what it’s worth, appears to have escaped any punishment for what was a pretty awful performance in that match, though I suppose you can call being removed from a Spurs match as punishment if you want. Dean instead will work the Manchester City - West Ham match.

Spurs have lost 9 out of 15 matches they’ve played when Mike Dean has served as head match official.