Referee Coote sacked by the PGMOL after lengthy review following his staements against former Liverpool boss Klopp.
Referee Coote has had his contract as a Premier League referee terminated after an investigation into his off-field behaviour.
Coote was fired with immediate effect after being judged to have committed “serious breach” of his job contract. This according to the refereeing authority PGMOL.
Two significant allegations that surfaced in November as part of a string of leaks allegedly involving the 42-year-old were the subject of the investigation’s findings against Coote. The first concerned a video that was posted online and included Coote using profanity to disparage Jürgen Klopp, the manager of Liverpool at the time. The second concerned a Sun video purportedly showing Coote inhaling what looked like white powder.
“Following the conclusion of a thorough investigation into David Coote’s conduct. His employment with PGMOL has been terminated today with immediate effect,” a PGMOL spokesperson said. “David Coote’s actions were found to be in serious breach of the provisions of his employment contract. With his position deemed untenable.”
In order to verify the accuracy of the claims and provide Coote time to provide a suitable response, PGMOL feels that it has finished the extensive procedure that was required. Three further investigations are also being conducted on him.
Claims that Coote talked with a buddy the potential of giving a player a yellow card are being investigated. The accusations focus on a text exchange that took place both before and after Coote’s booking of Leeds defender Ezgjan Alioski during the Championship match between Leeds and West Brom in October 2019. According to Coote, those accusations are “false and defamatory.”
His description of Klopp is also being investigated by the FA since it’s violated laws pertaining to protected traits. Uefa is looking into allegations of potential drug use that occurred during the European Championship last summer. Coote was serving as a backup VAR. Coote is no longer on Uefa’s VAR roster.