David Coote is one of the most experienced Premier League officials and has been suspended by the PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) after mobile phone footage appeared to show him making derogatory and foul-mouthed remarks about Liverpool and former manager Jurgen Klopp. It’s well known that Coote had a number of run-ins with Klopp during the German’s time as Liverpool manager. The question is, did this strained relationship affect his judgement at all when working on games involving the Anfield club?
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Opinion: Trouble Ahead for David Coote, His Fellow Referees and Their Judgement
UEFA Open Their Own Investigation
The body responsible for refereeing appointments in England were taking no chances. In a statement, PGMOL said: “David Coote has been suspended with immediate effect pending a full investigation and PGMOL will be making no further comment until that process is complete.”
UEFA have also started their own investigation into Coote’s behaviour after a video allegedly showed him taking cocaine during last summer’s European Championships in Germany. To underline how serious UEFA were taking this issue, they said in a statement, “A UEFA ethics and disciplinary inspector has been appointed to evaluate a potential violation of the UEFA disciplinary regulations by the referee, Mr David Coote.”
The Integrity of Referees Is Sacrosanct
Referees are like everyone else involved in football, they have friends and family, sons and daughters and mums and dads. No one should take any pleasure from the challenges David Coote now faces in his career and personal life, but the reality is that the integrity of referees is sacrosanct, and their decision-making has to be seen to be beyond reproach. Insulting and abusive comments from any official towards a club or individual manager will only add to the conspiracy theorists out there who believe there’s an agenda against their club.
Perception of Bias Is a Problem for All Refs
Given how highly contentious some decisions have become in the game today, it’s important to note that Coote’s language never referred to any bias one way or the other from either him or any of his colleagues. It’s also crucial to note that there is no evidence whatsoever of an agenda against any club. The personal abuse of any individual is of course unwelcome, but the truth is we are all guilty of name-calling in private when referring to people we work alongside.
Referees are human and are of course subject to human error. It’s the perception of any bias that is a problem for all referees in the wake of Coote’s comments and behaviour.
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Best Refs Are Strong, Firm and Fair
As a former player, all I ever wanted from a referee was for him to be firm, fair and honest. I’m not ashamed to say that like many of my teammates, I didn’t make life easy for refs, I pushed them as far as I could in order to get 50-50 decisions my way. Firm referees saw through this charade but occasionally, a weaker ref might just be too easily influenced by my comments. Players still behave in a similar manner today. To play in the cauldron of Glasgow means there’s a conspiracy theory about referees favouring one side over the other being highlighted and debated on a daily basis.
Every player has been on the receiving end of some truly awful refereeing decisions, but not once did I ever think that the man in the middle had an ulterior motive when making a judgement call. Alongside my teammates, we may have been guilty of name-calling in the privacy of our dressing room, but your focus quickly changed to the next game when the sense of injustice had moved on.
Trust Between Referees and Fans, Clubs Is Challenged
There’s no waiting till the next game these days. Most players have a social media footprint and there are numerous platforms only too happy to discuss and debate refereeing decisions 24 hours a day. Daily podcasts and written press opinion pieces mean that every contentious decision by a referee or VAR (Video Assistant Referee) is analysed to death, and it seems as though there is now no understanding or acceptance of a controversial call. On occasion, a call has to be made by the referee that is highly subjective, and it will be neither right nor wrong, it’s merely his opinion at the time. But when you learn that referees are bad-mouthing clubs and individuals from that club, the trust between referees and some clubs and their fans is being seriously challenged.
Foreign Refs Not the Answer
Some have highlighted the apparent poor standard of officiating in England and promote the idea of foreign refs being asked to take charge. Talk of officials from other countries being brought in to take charge of top-flight games in England is nonsense. Some years ago, referees in Scotland went on strike because they felt they weren’t getting enough support from the SFA in the wake of what they perceived was undue criticism from certain clubs. Officials from Israel, Luxembourg and Malta replaced the usual suspects but we quickly learned that no referee is infallible, inconsistency in decision-making was still evident and controversial calls were still part of the game.
No Ref Favours One Team Over the Other
At every club I played with in Scotland and England, there were of course referees that were better and more experienced than others. For what it’s worth, I admired referees who were calm, confident and fit enough to keep up with the play. A healthy respect in general as to how they would communicate with players was also a good quality to have. I hear people say how tough it is being a referee. I don’t doubt it. It’s also tough being a player and making the right decisions all the time to keep your place and earn a new contract. My guess is we will never get away from thinking that certain refs have it in for our clubs, but I just can’t believe any ref deliberately favours one team over the other.
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