Former Premier League referee David Coote has been charged with making an indecent image of a child, Nottinghamshire police confirmed. The charge, classified as Category A—the most serious level—relates to a video recovered by officers in February. Category A images typically involve children in penetrative sexual activity, according to Sentencing Council guidelines.
Coote, 43, was charged on 12 August and is on conditional bail. He is due to appear at Nottingham Magistrates' Court on Thursday. The charge of making an indecent image of a child encompasses activities such as downloading, sharing, or saving abuse photos or videos.
Coote was sacked by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) in December last year after a series of scandals. One video showed him making abusive comments about then-Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp in 2020, while another clip depicted him snorting a white powder during the 2024 Uefa European Championship in Germany.
In January, Coote gave an interview to The Sun in which he came out as gay and said his lifelong struggle to hide his sexuality contributed to the Klopp rant and his apparent drug use. In February, Uefa banned him from officiating until 30 June 2026, and in August, the Football Association suspended him over the Klopp footage.
PGMOL chief refereeing officer Howard Webb effectively ruled out Coote's return to officiating at the start of this season, stating, 'I think it’d be really difficult for David to come back, I’m afraid to say.'
