David Coote: Former Premier League referee charged with making an indecent video of a child
Warning: Some readers may find this content distressing | David Coote due to appear in court after Category A charge of making an indecent video of a child; former Premier League referee Coote was sacked last year
Thursday 11 September 2025 08:46, UK
Former Premier League referee David Coote has been charged with making an indecent video of a child, Nottinghamshire Police have confirmed.
The 43-year-old from Collingham is due to appear at Nottingham Magistrates Court on Thursday, September 11 and is currently on conditional bail.
He has been charged with a Category A offence which relates to a video file recovered by officers in February 2025.
Category A is the most serious of the categories.
The charge of making an indecent image of a child refers to activities such as downloading, sharing or saving abuse photos or videos.
Coote was sacked by Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) in December 2024 after a video appearing to show Coote making derogatory comments about Liverpool and their former manager Jurgen Klopp was widely circulated on social media.
In August this year he was given an eight-week suspension by the Football Association over the Klopp footage.
The PGMOL investigation also covered a second video which emerged in November 2024, appearing to show Coote snorting a white powder, purportedly during Euro 2024 where he was one of the assistant VARs for the tournament.
European football's governing body UEFA also appointed an ethics investigator to look into the matter and Coote was banned by UEFA until June 30, 2026.