Mike Dean, who enjoyed a 28-year career as a professional official, faced heavy criticism after revealing on a podcast that he would sometimes try to go long periods without blowing his whistle during Premier League matches.
Another former referee, Mark Halsey, criticized the comments, stating they added unnecessary pressure to current officials. Halsey also expressed doubt that holding a whistle for over 20 minutes was even possible.
In response, Dean published a statement on Instagram explaining that he always applied the Laws of the Game to the best of his ability and preferred a high threshold for contact to keep the game flowing.
BBC Sport subsequently investigated Premier League games officiated by Dean between 2008-09 and 2018-19. Out of 214 matches starting 0-0, researchers found only four instances where he went a significant time without blowing his whistle, with the longest being 18 minutes and 20 seconds.
