November 12, (THEWILL) – The England Football Association is currently investigating English Premier League referee, David Coote, after a video surfaced on social media appearing to show him making derogatory comments about Liverpool and their former manager, Jurgen Klopp. The Professional Game Match Officials Ltd has already suspended Coote pending a full investigation into the matter.
According to the video clip, the 42-year-old referee, who officiated Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa last Saturday, referred to Klopp as “arrogant” and used offensive language. The FA spokesman confirmed they are aware of the situation and are investigating whether Coote’s comments about the former Liverpool manager’s nationality constitute an aggravated breach of their misconduct rules.
Retired referee, Mike Dean, now a television pundit, believes this incident will have a damaging effect on officials throughout English football. “As referees you can’t put yourself in that position no matter what you do,” Dean stated. He emphasised that even though referees may discuss matters with colleagues, they cannot risk having such comments recorded and made public.
The video appears to reference a match Coote officiated between Liverpool and Burnley in July 2020, which ended 1-1. At the time, Klopp criticised the referee for being too lenient in his treatment of Burnley’s challenges. Coote has also faced scrutiny from Klopp in the past over other incidents, including a match against Arsenal last season where he did not advise the on-field official to review a handball incident.
This is not the first time Coote has been involved in controversial decisions affecting Liverpool. He was the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park in October 2020, when Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford’s challenge on Virgil van Dijk did not result in a red card or retrospective action, despite the Liverpool defender sustaining a season-ending injury.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
