Last week I referred to Mike Dean’s family receiving death threats after the incident in the West Ham v Fulham game.
This week I would like to look at the incident itself as I think there was part of it that was ignored. Let me just refresh what happened. A free kick was awarded to Fulham well inside the West Ham half and players of both side lined up just outside the West Ham penalty area.
As the players were jostling for position, Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic was holding on to the shirt front of Wet Ham’s Tomas Soucek. As Soucek tried to pull away from this, his arm accidentally hit Mitrovic in the face.
Mitrovic then fell writhing to the ground, holding his head as if he had been poleaxed.
The VAR drew Dean’s attention to this and after consulting the monitor he sent Soucek off for Violent Conduct.
The glossary in the Laws of the Game describe Violent Conduct as, ‘an action, which is not a challenge for the ball, which uses or attempts to use excessive force or brutality against an opponent or when a player deliberately strikes someone on the head or face, unless the force used is negligible.
Mike Dean is a very experienced referee having refereed over 500 Premier League matches but like all of us he can make mistakes, and there is no doubt this was one. It was appealed against on Sunday and repealed by the committee on Monday.
My point is, why was the incident then not handed over to the simulation panel, whose job it is to look at possible simulation not dealt with by the referee.
Many think of simulation as diving but it also includes acting to deceive the referee into giving an incorrect decision or disciplinary sanction.
The blow Mitrovic received may not have been particularly negligible but it was not deliberate nor was there the brutality or excessive force that Mitrovic’s play acting suggested.
Soucek said Mitrovic apologised afterwards, saying he wasn’t trying to get him sent off. If he wasn’t, what was he trying to do?
