Former Premier League referee Mike Dean admitted that he used to play “games” while officiating matches, including trying to go as long as possible without blowing his whistle.Dean, 58, refereed 553 top-flight matches from 2000 until his retirement in 2022, handing out a record 113 red cards in the division.Speaking on Jamie Vardy’s Having A Party, the podcast of the former Leicester City striker, Dean revealed that he used to keep himself entertained with “games we used to have as a laugh.”“We used to say, ‘Right, we’ll kick off now, right? See how long we can go without blowing a whistle’,” he said. “Done that a few times in the Premier League, before VAR (the Video Assistant Referee), obviously. 20 to 25 minutes without blowing a whistle. A few times — let it go, let it go, let it go.”Dean also said that he used to set himself another personal challenge while the game was going on.“Another thing with me 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,” he said. “That was just me joking about.“I used to kind of run round, kind of go but don’t come out of it. Got about 15 minutes once in one game without leaving the centre circle.”He added: “Got to enjoy yourself.”Dean’s comments drew criticism on social media, though he was defended by Ref Support UK, a charity “dedicated to independent training, support and development of referees.”“I bet after the game where ‘he didn’t blow the whistle for 25 mins’ fans were saying ‘didn’t notice the ref today, though he was great and he never made it all about him’,” the charity wrote on social media.“Fans are so fickle. I have seen and heard about players doing similar like kicking the ball out from (kick-off), intentionally getting booked or sent off etc, etc, but that’s just a laugh isn’t it?”Dean was known for his personality on the pitch and was asked by Vardy about “quirks” that he used to display during matches.“Because I used to enjoy my job, I kind of got into it a bit … well, I probably was centre of attention at some times,” he said. “I kind of got into a bit more, got involved in the game as if I want to be more of a part of the game than what I should have been.“If you play an advantage and it works, you do celebrate it. If you get a decision right, you want to celebrate it. I celebrated with the lads on the earpiece, but if you play an advantage and somebody scores, I think it’s great.”After retiring, from on-field refereeing, Dean worked in a VAR role for the Premier League before leaving that position in 2023 to pursue a media career.