Premier League referee David Coote is under investigation after a video of him appeared online making defamatory comments about former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. Coote has been suspended by the PGMOL as a result pending the result of the findings.
The Mirror’s Darren Lewis reported that the 42 -year-old is understood to have admitted that the viral video is genuine. While the video is several years old, the potential ramifications are being speculated to be quite serious.
From an Arsenal perspective, the club’s relationship with officials has been well-talked about. The Gunners have already received three red cards during the campaign and three penalties across all competitions have also been awarded against the club.
Coote however is yet to be the referee for a game of the club’s this season. He has been a referee 12 times for the club with a record that saw the Gunners win seven, draw twice and lose three times.
He is also yet to be a video assistant referee for the Gunners this campaign, but notably, in the nine times he has been so, was at Stockley Park for the 1-1 draw at Anfield last season. During the game, Martin Odegaard appeared to handle the ball in the Arsenal box but the referee nor VAR believed the incident to be worthy of an infringement – a decision later widely criticised.
In terms of controversial decisions that have gone against the club under Coote. At the start of the previous season, away to Crystal Palace Coote sent Takehiro Tomiyasu off for a second yellow card offence.
He was given the first for alleged time-wasting in the 60th minute before seven minutes later Tomiyasu was deemed to have pulled back Jordan Ayew on a counter-attack. The contact was extremely minimal and despite holding on to win 1-0, the Gunners were frustrated by the decision.
Tomiyasu would be suspended for the next game and miss the 2-2 draw with Fulham at home. Jakub Kiwior was brought in to deputise on the left-hand side when the Japanese international appeared in good form.
The season before, Coote awarded West Ham United a penalty when Gabriel Magalhaes was deemed to have fouled Lucas Paqueta in the box. Said Benrahma would score, getting the Hammers back into the game and eventually seeing two points dropped in what became a turning point in the title race.
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