Referee David Coote has rejected allegations he discussed giving a yellow card before a match with the Football Association (FA) investigating the Premier League official.
The Sun first reported the allegations on Tuesday evening concerning Coote booking Leeds United’s Ezgjan Alioski in a Championship game against West Brom in October 2019.
Coote is being investigated over the latest allegation, which he “strongly refutes,” and has already been suspended after allegedly appearing in a video and calling former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp a “c***” and “f****** arrogant”.
“I strongly refute these false and defamatory allegations,” Coote said in a statement following the story in The Sun.
“Whatever issues I may have had in my personal life they have never affected my decision-making on the field.
“I have always held the integrity of the game in the highest regard, refereeing matches impartially and to the best of my ability.”
A spokesperson for the Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL) also released a statement to Sky Sports News: “The facts need to be established in light of these very serious allegations.
“We adopt a zero-tolerance approach to any breach of our Integrity Code of Conduct, which is signed by all match officials on an annual basis.
“PGMOL Board is committed to taking the appropriate action should any breach of that Code be proven.
“David Coote remains suspended and subject to an ongoing disciplinary process by PGMOL, separate to the investigation into this matter which will be carried out independently by The FA. We will be making no further comment at this stage.”
While an FA spokesperson maintained the latest allegations were being taken “very serious” and would be investigated “as a matter of urgency”.
