Premier League referee David Coote has been suspended after a video allegedly showing him making derogatory comments about Liverpool and the club's former manager Jurgen Klopp was circulated on social media.
Refereeing body PGMOL says the suspension comes into force with immediate effect and is pending a full investigation.
The video, widely shared on social media, has not been verified by the BBC. It is unclear when it was filmed or its authenticity.
Coote, 42, refereed Liverpool's 2-0 win against Aston Villa on Saturday. He is one of the Premier League’s most-experienced officials and has been refereeing matches in the top flight since 2018.
The video being shared appears to refer to a Premier League match that Coote officiated between Liverpool and Burnley in July 2020, which finished 1-1.
Klopp criticised Coote after the match, saying the referee failed to give fouls for challenges made on Liverpool's players.
PGMOL says it will not be making further comment until its investigation is completed.
Comments
Bin dipping pricks
I didn’t question the sentiment….
If only managers and players got the same level of scrutiny when they said stuff...
Who would be a referee?
There will be lots of faux outrage at this and clearly if it is him then he has made a really poor decision, but let’s not pretend footballers, fans, managers etc don’t say worse to referees.
Doesnt help that we're not into another International Weekend, so there is bugger all to talk about domestically - Reminds me of when Bobby Madley made that private comment (Was it about someone disabled?), comments werent even made directly to the person he was talking about, and he got hung, drawn and quartered over it, with some horrible rumours added to the mix as well about him.
The one bonus Coote can take is that Madley was eventually able to restart his career as a Referee.
Worst case the Premier League should just stop him taking part in any Liverpool games, be quite funny when it gets to the point that they realise no one can officiate their games (Dont the Scousers have massive issue with Tierney too?) - Still wont be their fault though
b) sent it out and shared it, because God forbid 2 people have a conversation or interaction without some dickhead filming it.