Premier League referee David Coote has been suspended with immediate effect after a video appeared on social media in which he appeared to launch an expletive-ridden tirade over Liverpool and their former manager Jurgen Klopp.
"David Coote has been suspended with immediate effect pending a full investigation," said a statement from English football's refereeing body. "PGMOL will be making no further comment until that process is complete."
So far little is known about the video, which appeared on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Monday, where it appears Coote calls Liverpool "shit" and refers to their former head coach Klopp in a number of profane and derogatory ways.
In the video, the man 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 "lots of challenges go." The German had also confronted Coote at the final whistle of this match. "He accused me of lying," Coote appears to say, "and then had a right f**king pop at me. I've got no interest in speaking to someone who is f**king arrogant."
A second video saw the individual say: "Just to be clear, that f***ing last video cannot go anywhere, seriously."
There have been run ins between Klopp and Coote since, 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 conceding 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.