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Mike Dean - demoted to Championship for poor form - awards penalty for 'handball outside the box'

The decision came during Barnsley's 3-2 win over Leeds United on Saturday

Evan Bartlett
Sunday 22 January 2017 14:28 GMT
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The referee has made a series of errors in recent weeks
The referee has made a series of errors in recent weeks (Getty Images)

Mike Dean's bad week got even worse on Saturday after he awarded a penalty for a handball that appeared to occur outside the box.

The referee was demoted to the Championship after making several bad calls in recent Premier League games and took charge of the Yorkshire derby between Barnsley and Leeds United at Oakwell.

With the home side leading 3-1, Barnsley defender Marc Roberts appeared to touch the ball with his hand as he chased Leeds forward Chris Wood back towards the penalty area.

While the assistant referee appeared to be in the best position to make the decision, Dean blew his whistle and pointed to the spot almost instantly.

Fortunately for him, Wood's conversion was the away side's final goal and the score remained 3-2 at the final whistle.

Dean is said to have agreed to the demotion with Professional Game Match Officials Limited - the organisation responsible for assigning referees - after a series of high-profile mistakes in recent weeks.

The assistant referee appeared to be best placed to make the decision (Sky Sports/Screengrab)

Perhaps most significant was the early red card he showed to West Ham's Sofiane Feghouli for a tackle on Manchester United's Phil Jones that was later overturned.

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