David Coote’s career trajectory once reflected the upward mobility and fame of hosting the Premier League, the most advantageous and visible domestic competition in football. Less than a year later, however, he found that his career had collapsed in an epic way, and that Coote was now facing the most serious criminal charges.
The 43-year-old former judge is scheduled to appear before Nottingham Magistrate’s court and is accused of making indecent videos of the child. This fee is related to materials classified as “Category A”. This is the most serious classification of images of child abuse, including the most serious acts of exploitation.
The accusations are the pinnacle of months of controversy and scandal. In December 2024, the professional matchmaker (PGMOL), the head of managing English football referees, fired Cootie after a series of events that already denied him. Just a few weeks ago, he was stopped when the video surfaced on social media. In that clip, Kute called Klopp “German c***” and “f*** argonant.” It is a language that not only violates the standards of professionalism, but also cuts directly into the supposed fair judgement.
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The clip shocked the world of football and raised immediate concerns about the prejudice, integrity and reliability of the host at the highest level. The referee works in the game’s background by design. The invisible arbiters of that rule. When one of you gets caught using offensive and abusive language about a key player in the sport, it undermines the trust that players, managers and supporters are intended to be placed in the system.
During the Football Association’s subsequent investigation, Koote tried to mitigate the damage. He claimed that the words expressed in the clips did not reflect his true feelings for Klopp and offered an apology to Liverpool managers, FA and PGMOL. His contributions did little to save his career. The FA imposed its own sanctions (a mandatory education program and an eight-week suspension) on the top of his dismissal. But by then the damage had been irreparable. Coote’s reputation in the game was destroyed, and his public perception as a reliable judge evaporated.
In the months that followed, Koot was further away from the football spotlight. Reports that he was seen working as a delivery driver had an impressive fall from the bounty of a man who was entrusted with dominating Premier League equipment. The story is widely shared and portrayed as a portrait of warning stories and humiliation. To many observers, it seemed like the end of the road. The man who reached the highest level of his profession was undoubtedly reconciled by a mixture of poor judgment and the merciless glare of the public football stage.
But what has emerged since then is much darker than the professional doom tales. A police investigation that began in February saw Koot face accusations of making indecent videos of children, materials seized by police officers in Nottinghamshire. Unlike his previous controversy centered around professionalism and action, the accusation has profound criminal consequences. It wasn’t a question of whether he could work again in football, the outlook had already disappeared. Now it’s a matter of justice, law, and subsequent punishment.