Football: Referee Banned
By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw
The former English Premier League referee, David Coote, who is 42 years old, has been handed, by the Football Association (FA), the governing body of association football in England, an eight-week suspension for derogatory comments that he made, in a video on social media, about the nationality of the former Liverpool FC manager, Jurgen Klopp.
Coote was dismissed, in December 2024, by the League referees' body, the Professional Game Match Officials Limited, following an investigation into his conduct, and further sanctioned for an "aggravated breach" of rule E3.2.
He pleaded guilty to the charge.
The FA stated that Coote expressed "deep remorse" and acknowledged his comments were "crass and inappropriate".
Coote was also banned, in February 2025, by UEFA, the governing body of association football in Europe, from officiating in their competitions until 30 June 2026. This followed another video, which came to light in November 2024, in which he was seen sniffing a white powder when he was on duty at Euro 2024, which was held in Germany from 14 June to 14 July.
Also, in June 2025, Coote was cleared of any gambling misconduct following claims that he had discussed issuing a yellow card to a player prior to a match.
He blamed his conduct, for which he was banned, on his mental health.
A rather sad case indeed!
Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw may be contacted by e-mail at ‘
