Former Premier League referee Coote, sacked after Klopp abuse, charged over indecent video of a child

Former Premier League referee David Coote, who lost his job after abusing Liverpool and former manager Jurgen Klopp, faces a much larger problem now as he has been charged over an indecent video of a child in England. The Nottinghamshire Police charged the 43-year-old Coote with making an indecent image of a child for a video file that investigators recovered in February this year.

Coote, who hails from Collingham in Nottinghamshire, was charged on 12 August after a thorough investigation, the BBC and Sky News reported. He would be appearing in the Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (11 September).

Sacked EPL referee accused of making indecent image of child

The charge against Coote is for a Category A image, which, as per Sky News, “is the most serious type of offence and usually involves children being sexually assaulted by adults.”

The former Premier League official was sacked by the English football referee governing body, Professional Game Match Officials Limited, or the PGMOL, in December 2024 following an investigation into a video that allegedly showed him abusing Liverpool and their former coach, Klopp.

Before his removal, Coote was suspended for eight weeks in August 2024 for allegedly making the derogatory comments.

In the video, Coote was allegedly seen making derogatory comments against Liverpool and Klopp while discussing a game against Burnley from 2020.

“Aside from having a right pop at me when I reffed them against Burnley in lockdown, then he accused me of lying then just had a right f***ing pop at me, I’ve got no interest in speaking to someone who’s f***ing arrogant. I do my best not to speak to him. German c***,” Coote said in the video.

In the same clip, Coote was also seen saying that he would lose his job if the video were made public.

Later in another video, he was allegedly seen snorting cocaine during Euro 2024.

Coote is also currently serving a ban from the European football governing body UEFA until 30 June 2026.