Possession of child pornography
Scandal referee makes confession
Updated 10/14/2025 – 5:06 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
A former referee pleads guilty to possession of child pornography. He had already attracted attention in several scandals.
Scandal-plagued former Premier League referee David Coote has surprisingly pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography. The 43-year-old admitted the allegations in a court in Nottingham. Coote was charged over a video seized by police in February.
The former referee only confirmed his name and entered his guilty plea. He did not comment further.
Coote’s admission of guilt marks a turnaround. In September he denied the allegations. The charge of making an indecent image of a child in the UK refers to acts such as downloading, sharing or storing images or videos of abuse. In Coote’s case, it is said to be a Category A video – the most serious classification. He was released on bail and is due back at Nottingham Crown Court on December 11.
Last December, the English refereeing organization parted ways with Coote after several incidents. He had previously caused a stir with a video in which he made derogatory comments about former Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp. The FA then banned him for eight weeks.
Coote acknowledged the comments in the video, which was recorded back in 2020. He said he deeply regretted her and justified his behavior, among other things, with psychological difficulties during the corona pandemic.
In addition, the Englishman was banned by the European Football Union UEFA until June 30, 2026 at the beginning of the year. The background is another video that supposedly shows him snorting a white powder during the European Championships in Germany.
Coote worked on the team of referees for the video evidence at the European Championships. Among other things, he worked as an assistant to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) during the round of 16 between Germany and Denmark.
In an interview with The Sun newspaper, he apologized for the actions that led to his suspension. He was at a low point in his life.