Premier League referee David Coote suspended after alleged X-rated video rant at Liverpool

Premier League referee David Coote has been suspended with immediate effect after a video appeared to show him launching an expletive-laden rant at Liverpool and their former manager Jurgen Klopp. The footage, which began to appear on social media on Monday, seems to show Coote calling Liverpool "s**t" and Klopp "a German c**t".

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) - the body which governs referees - instantly opened an investigation and within two hours revealed that Coote, who has been a Premier League referee since 2018, has been suspended with immediate effect.

A statement from the PGMOL read: "David Coote has been suspended with immediate effect pending a full investigation. PGMOL will be making no further comment until that process is complete."

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Reports in the national media on Monday evening have claimed Coote is understood to have admitted the video is genuine.

Coote was the referee for Liverpool's 2-0 Premier League win over Aston Villa on Saturday evening. It was the eighth game in which he has taken charge of the Reds, who are understood to be aware of the video circulating on social media. The Football Association have opened a separate investigation into the matter.

In a video that was seemingly filmed during the lockdown period for coronavirus in 2020, Coote is asked by an unidentified associate what he made of a Liverpool game at which he was recently fourth official. A photo shown later in the video on Coote's phone suggests it was the 7-2 Premier League loss at Aston Villa in October of that year.

"Liverpool were s***," the video appears to show Coote saying.

And when then asked for his view on Klopp, the reply in the video says: "A c**t, an absolute (unintelligible). Aside from having a right pop at me when I reffed them against Burnley in lockdown, when he accused me of lying then just had a right f***ing pop at me, I've got no interest in speaking to somebody who is f***ing arrogant. So I do my best not to speak to him. (James) Milner is all right.

"But, my God, a German c***t, f*** me."

In a second video on social media, Coote appears to state: "Just to be clear, that last f***ing video can't go anywhere, seriously."

The game against Burnley mentioned in the video, which ended in a 1-1 Premier League draw behind closed doors at Anfield in July 2020, was the first in which Coote was referee of a game involving Liverpool.

After the final whistle, Klopp was involved in a furious exchange with Coote and his officials after believing Andy Robertson should have been awarded a penalty during the game, while the then Reds boss was also upset at what he deemed a lack of protection for goalkeeper Alisson Becker.

Coote was later the same year the VAR at the Goodison derby in which Virgil van Dijk suffered a season-ending knee injury when on the receiving end of a horror challenge by Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. Coote and his colleagues were heavily criticised afterwards for not more closely investigating the incident, for which Picked was not censured.

The following month, Coote was replaced by Andre Marriner as the VAR having initially been appointed for Liverpool's home Premier League game against Leicester City.

More recently, Coote was on VAR duty when the officials, led by referee Chris Kavanagh, failed to penalise what appeared a clear handball by Martin Odegaard during Liverpool's 1-1 Premier League draw at home to Arsenal last season. PGMOL chief Howard Webb later admitted the Reds should have been awarded a penalty.