David Coote has opened up about his sexuality, drug use and the pressures of being a Premier League referee in a tell-all interview almost two months after he was sacked by the PGMOL.
The 42-year-old became the subject of controversy in November 2024 after an unverified video that showed him calling former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp “f***ing arrogant” and a “German c***” surfaced online.
The Sun subsequently published a video of Coote snorting a white powder while reportedly working at Euro 2024. He was sacked in December following an investigation by the PGMOL into both videos.
Coote is also subject to another investigation by the FA into allegations of spot-fixing after he reportedly discussed the possibility of issuing Leeds United’s Ezgjan Alioski a yellow card with a friend before a game against West Bromwich Albion in 2019.
In a sit-down interview with The Sun, Coote denies the alleged betting breach, says he “deeply regrets” his remarks about Klopp, discusses taking cocaine and why he hid the fact he is gay from the public. He also says he has kicked his drug habit after seeking therapy.
David Coote on his sexuality
“I felt a deep sense of shame during my teenage years in particular. I didn’t come out to my parents until I was 21. I didn’t come out to my friends until I was 25.
“My sexuality isn’t the only reason that led me to be in that position. But I’m not telling an authentic story if I don’t say that I’m gay, and that I’ve had real struggles dealing with hiding that.
“I hid my emotions as a young ref and I hid my sexuality as well — a good quality as a referee but a terrible quality as a human being. And that’s led me to a whole course of behaviours.
“I’ve had issues around my self-esteem — and that relates to my sexuality. I’m gay and I’ve struggled with feeling proud of being ‘me’ over a long period of time.
“I have received deeply unpleasant abuse during my career as a ref and to add my sexuality to that would have been really difficult.
“There’s a lot to be done throughout football and more widely in society with regard to discrimination.
“I didn’t want to be that person that was putting their head above the parapet to be shot at, given the abuse we all get as a referee in any event.”
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Coote on his drug use
“It’s not something I was reliant on day by day, week by week, month by month.
“I’ve had long periods where I’ve not used it — but it was one of the escape routes I had. Just getting away from the stresses, the relentlessness of the job. It fills me with a huge sense of shame to say that I took that route.
“In 2023 I lost my mum very suddenly. At the same time my uncle was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. After Covid and the introduction of VAR, six officials were suddenly needed for each game.
“I was selected by Fifa for the U17 World Cup in Indonesia, as well as the Euros and Olympics last year.
“It meant that over the course of the 2023-24 season I was involved in more than 90 games — often back to back. At the end of last season I went straight into the Euros and that was incredibly pressurised. I had another tournament coming up immediately — heading to Paris for the Olympics.”
On the video of his snorting cocaine, Coote says: “I don’t recognise myself in the cocaine video. I can’t resonate with how I felt then, but that was me. I was struggling with the schedule and there was no opportunity to stop. And so I found myself in that position — escaping.”
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Coote on alleged betting breach
“There was no agreement prior to the game. I went and did my job. The player committed a yellow card tackle,” Coote said.
“I received nothing for it. I’m really disappointed that anything like this has come out because it tarnishes the integrity of the game. And whatever people think of me as a referee, as a human I have always gone out and done my best on the pitch.
“I wasn’t in a great place, and I was messaging people that in hindsight I shouldn’t have trusted. I was naive.”
“I made some really poor choices and I really wish I could turn back the clock now and do things differently.
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