David Coote has been removed from his duties for an upcoming Nations League match and future UEFA matches, CBS Sports understands, amid multiple investigations into a video of him abusing Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool.
Coote was suspended with immediate effect by refereeing body PGMOL pending a full investigation into the expletive-ridden tirade. The English Football Association has also launched its own investigation into the 42-year-old. Meanwhile, Coote will no longer officiate a Nations League match during the international break as planned.
Coote has been used by UEFA as VAR in the past, most recently taking the helm of the video booth during last week’s Champions League match between PSV Eindhoven and Girona. He is not expected to be appointed for continental matches in the near future.
Meanwhile, Coote is facing a charge of possible misconduct from the FA over comments in which he referred to Klopp’s German nationality. The FA rules state that references to nationality may constitute an aggravated offense which would result in a more serious sanction for the Nottinghamshire referee. It is understood Coote does not deny appearing in the video, where he appears to call Liverpool “shit” and refer to their former head coach Klopp in a number of profane and derogatory ways.
Coote does not yet want to comment on the incident. PGMOL chief Howard Webb told Match Officials Mic’d Up on Tuesday: “We became aware of a video circulating on social media which we take very seriously. We have launched a full investigation. One of our referees, David Coote, has been suspended with immediate effect pending the outcome of that investigation. I cannot say much more at this stage until we have completed that investigation.”
In the video, the man who appears to be Coote then refers to an incident involving the two in the 1-1 draw between Liverpool and Burnley in July 2020, after which Klopp had criticized the referee for “letting up a lot of challenges”. The German had also confronted Coote at the final whistle of this match. “He accused me of lying,” Coote seems to say, “and then hexed me the fuck out. I have no interest in talking to someone who’s fucking arrogant.”
In a second video, the person said, “Just to be clear, that damn last video isn’t going anywhere, seriously.”
There have been clashes between Klopp and Coote since then, most notably when the latter was VAR official for a 1-1 draw between Liverpool and Arsenal in December 2024, a match in which Martin Odegaard avoided being awarded a penalty for a handball in the penalty area. . Coote was also in charge when Liverpool beat Aston Villa 2-0 at Anfield on Saturday and was the VAR official when Jordan Pickford went unpunished for a tackle on Virgil van Dijk that resulted in an ACL injury.
Meanwhile, a person who appears to be the second person in the video has been suspended by his employers. Former Nottinghamshire cricketer Ben Kitt now works for executive recruitment agency Forsyth Barnes. Their co-founder Roheel Ahmed told Nottinghamshire Live: “Forsyth Barnes understands that David Coote’s leaked video features one of his employees, Ben Kitt. This is something we are taking very seriously and we have suspended Ben on full pay while we investigate further.
“While we are still gathering all the facts, we know for a fact that the video was recorded several years before Ben joined Forsyth Barnes.”