Premier League manager speaks out on David Coote suspension after X-rated Liverpool rant

Chelsea's Enzo Maresca has become the first Premier League manager to air his views on the suspension of referee David Coote - insisting the alleged foul-mouth rant at former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp would be unacceptable in any walk of life.

Coote, 42, was suspended by the Professional Game Match Officials (PGMOL) earlier this month after X-rated footage appeared to show him calling Klopp a "German c***" and Liverpool "s***". The footage of Coote emerged just days after he was the man in the middle for the Reds' 2-0 Premier League win over Aston Villa on November 9.

Coote, though, will not be overseeing Premier League or European fixtures anytime soon as both the PGMOL and UEFA moved quickly to suspend him in the wake of the footage circulating. Now, Chelsea's Maresca has become the first Premier League boss to give his take on the incident, as he insisted the comments wouldn’t be inappropriate for anyone - not just an official - to make.

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"I have seen it. These kind of things, not any reaction - whether it is a player, a manager, is a referee, a normal human being not involved in football - the reaction is not the best one because there are things that are not correct to say," said the Italian in his press conference ahead of Chelsea's visit to Leicester City this weekend.

"It doesn’t matter that he is a referee. If I, as a manager, say the same it is wrong. If you, as a journalist, say the same it is something wrong.

"So no matter that he is a referee. Any human being that says these kind of things it is not good."

Earlier this week, the PGMOL reiterated that the incident was being thoroughly investigated and that Coote's welfare remained a priority.

"We are following an internal process and taking the allegations into David Coote’s conduct very seriously as part of our ongoing full and thorough investigation," read a PGMOL statement.

"Whilst David remains suspended, his welfare continues to be important to us and he is aware of the support network available to him."

The Football Association has also confirmed it is investigating the incident.