Ex-Premier League ref David Coote charged over child abuse video

Former Premier League referee David Coote has been charged with making an indecent image of a child.

The ex-official, aged 43 and from Collingham, is due to appear at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, Sept. 11.

The charge of making an indecent image of a child refers to activities such as downloading, sharing or saving abuse photos or videos.

The allegation relates to a video recovered by officers from Nottinghamshire Police in February, the force said in a statement to ESPN.

Coote was charged on Aug. 12 and is on conditional bail.

Coote was sacked by Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) in December after a video of abusive comments he had made about former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp in 2020 came to light.

He was also banned by European football’s governing body UEFA until June 30 2026 after a different video emerged of him snorting a white powder through a bank note while in Germany for Euro 2024.

In January Coote came out as gay and said a lifelong struggle to hide his sexuality had contributed to the rant about Klopp and his apparent drug use.

In August this year he was also given an eight-week suspension by the Football Association over the Klopp footage.

A spokesperson for Coote declined to comment when contacted by the PA news agency on Wednesday.