Disgraced former Premier League referee David Coote charged with making indecent video of a child.

 

Former Premier League referee David Coote has been charged by Nottinghamshire Police with making an indecent image of a child. Police confirmed on Wednesday that the 43-year-old from Collingham, Nottinghamshire, was charged in August and will appear at Nottingham magistrates’ court later this week. The charge relates to a video file that officers recovered in February. Investigators have categorized the file as Category A, which is the most serious level of offence in cases of this nature.

Coote, once a familiar name in England’s top flight, has been in controversy before. In December 2024, he was sacked by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the body that oversees referees in English football, after a video emerged appearing to show him making offensive remarks about then Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp. That scandal already marked a steep fall from grace for a referee who had previously overseen key Premier League fixtures.

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With these latest charges, Coote’s career and reputation face further damage. He has been conditionally bailed as the legal process moves forward. The case is expected to attract significant attention given his high-profile role in English football before his dismissal.

David Coote’s troubles had already escalated earlier this year when UEFA imposed a ban on him until June 2026. That sanction followed the release of another video allegedly showing him snorting a white powder while in Germany during Euro 2024. His sacking from PGMOL and the UEFA suspension left him excluded from professional refereeing circles across Europe even before the latest criminal charge.

Now, the charge of making an indecent image of a child adds a far more serious dimension to his downfall. Nottinghamshire Police made clear that the recovered file was not minor in nature but classified as Category A, the most severe classification in child exploitation offences. Coote is due to appear in magistrates’ court later this week, where prosecutors will begin to lay out the case.

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The situation represents one of the most damaging scandals to touch English refereeing in recent history. Once trusted with top-flight matches and respected at the highest levels of the game, Coote now faces potential criminal conviction and long-term consequences that go far beyond the football world. For now, he remains on conditional bail as the judicial process begins, with the case likely to progress through higher courts.