Mike Dean’s former boss and colleagues have turned on the controversial ex-referee following claims he would play ‘minigames’ while officiating Premier League matches.Former referees’ chief Keith Hackett, fellow ex-top flight referee Graham Scott and referee body ProRef have all moved to rubbish the claims of Dean, who took charge of 553 Premier League games in his career. ‘There used to be games we would have for a laugh,’ Dean said on Jamie Vardy’s Having a Party podcast. ‘It would kick-off, right; see how long we could go without blowing a whistle.’I done that a few times in the Premier League, before VAR, obviously. Went 20, 25 minutes without blowing the whistle.’Dean continued: ‘I used to do another one in the Premier League, I used to stand in the centre circle and see how long I could stay in the centre circle before I had to leave. That was just me joking about. Got about 15 minutes once, in one game.’His comments have caused uproar in the football world, with fans questioning his integrity and former officials weighing in. Past colleagues have turned on Mike Dean (pictured) after he admitted to sometimes trying to see how long he could go without blowing his whistle in a game Dean’s former refereeing boss Keith Hackett (pictured) has suggested there is no way the controversial ex-referee could have got away with minigamesKeith Hackett, who was a FIFA referee for more than two years and Dean’s boss at PGMOL between 2004 and 2010, has looked to front that response.Hackett wrote on X: ‘Mike Dean is in fantasy land!! The examination of performances assessors is forensic. When I was boss referee’s performances were forensically examined. ‘Dean on my watch could not have done what he said with the monitoring systems in operation.’Hackett added he was ‘satisfied (Dean) is talking nonsense’ and said: ‘He clearly has damaged his reputation. The fallout does not help current refs.’Scott, meanwhile, who refereed in the Premier League between 2015 and 2025, rubbished Dean’s claims and argued that his behaviour post-retirement has been questionable.’I worked with Mike loads of times – they’re not true stories,’ Scott said on talkSPORT. ‘I wish people wouldn’t do this kind of thing. It’s the audio equivalent of clickbait, isn’t it?’It’s to try and get people interested and laughing. It’s palpable nonsense.’He added: ‘I found him quite shy, personally. I found him quite small when he was in a private situation. Graham Scott, meanwhile, said Dean has shown ‘precious little’ common sense since retiring Dean revealed his ‘minigames’ when speaking on Jamie Vardy’s podcast, and his quotes have caused outrage’What happened on the field, what happened in referee meetings, is he put on a persona that was way too far the other way, as a kind of coping mechanism.’Scott also wrote in The Athletic: ‘For all his common sense on the field, he has shown precious little of it since retiring. Casual comments that harm former colleagues and employers do not disappear when the following day’s newspapers are thrown in the bin, yet hang around forever to cause untold damage to all referees’ reputations.’Daily Mail Sport understands Dean’s comments have raised plenty of eyebrows within the current refereeing community too, with senior figures questioning the plausibility of his claim given the lack of detail.According to senior officials at ProRef, Dean provided no indication of when these alleged ‘minigames’ took place. He also claimed they occurred before VAR was introduced for the 2019-20 season, meaning any such incidents would have taken place under previous refereeing chiefs – and current bosses are insistent that ‘integrity and impartiality’ are at the heart of referees’ decision-making.A number of fans, meanwhile, have taken to social media to voice their concern at Dean’s suggestions.One wrote: ‘Why the f***’s he admitting to this? “Oooh look at me I ruined the integrity of top level football matches while getting paid a f***ing fortune for a laugh.” And people wonder why we all think refs are *****.’Dean has admitted, somewhat dismissively, that sometimes there was an element of wanting to be the ‘centre of attention’ when he was on the field.’It’s about wanting to be more a part of the game than what I should have been,’ Dean said. ‘If you play an advantage and it works off, you do celebrate it; if you get a decision right you kind of want to celebrate. ‘I’d celebrate with the lads in my ear pieces and stuff. If you play an advantage and somebody scores, I think it’s great. Love it.’But despite his prior explanations to Vardy, whom he officiated several times while the striker played for Leicester, fans didn’t find his declaration amusing.Another fan added: ‘“Professional” referee by the way. This is something you would expect from a Sunday league keeper who’s earning pittance to get abused.‘What an absolute f***ing ****. Always behaved like he was more important than the game being played around him.’A different account wrote: ‘How about, and I might be going out on a limb here, concentrating on officiating the matches properly rather than playing silly little games with yourself. Mike Dean thinking this makes him sound like a right lad is baffling to me.’