Referee who insulted Klopp banned for eight weeks

English referee David Coote, who was expelled from the English Football League for insulting manager Jürgen Klopp, has been suspended by the English Football Association (FA) for eight weeks and ordered to attend a course for offensive comments.

Coote gained media attention following the publication of a video, made during the Covid-19 pandemic, in which he called the former Liverpool manager "arrogant" and a "German scoundrel" , admitting that he disliked the German coach because, after a game, he had "accused him of lying".

On February 28, the former referee was suspended by the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body until June 30, 2026, considering that the English referee violated “basic rules of conduct” and “brought discredit to football and UEFA”.

The English referee, who was sent off by the Premier League in December, is also being investigated by UEFA due to the publication of another video in which he appears to be sniffing a white powder, in a situation that allegedly occurred during Euro2024.

Internally, the FA punished him this Tuesday for “inappropriate behavior” and the use of “abusive and/or insulting words” in the aforementioned video, which dates back to July 2020, considering that Coote had his “behavior aggravated” by the “inclusion of the reference — express or implicit — to nationality”.