I honestly don't think it's any surprise that a top flight ref both talks shit about football celebrities and snorts coke.

I'm not going to judge the guy. If I were him I'd probably do and say similar things, apart from the bit where I got recorded and humiliated.

You get the same behaviour among police top brass, intel services, the military, the top levels of the bureaucracy and the judiciary, the Parliament as we well know and so on.

What's a concern is that PGMOL is not properly structured, has no independent watchdog, has a lack of clear professional or probity standards, and its leaders have been actively chasing what amount to conflicts of interest with its move into media.

    JazzG basically some allegations with under aged kids involved

    No idea what this is, but the idea of one of these refs being a sex pest is gross.

        Burnwinter Pretty much this. There can't be many of us who haven't called someone we've had to work with a cunt away from the workplace (I've had a one or two workplaces where there wasn't a day that I wouldn't do so), just that most of us wouldn't have someone film us doing it.
        Big issue is the refs in this league seem to aim to make themselves the story instead of the game. The ideal scenario is not being able to remember who the referee was after a particular game but that pretty much never happens in the EPL, certainly not as an Arsenal fan it seems. Who the referee is is almost as a big deal as the starting lineup. How ridiciulous is it that we still complain about particular referees from particular games that were literally decades ago?

          Yep. It's systemic.

          What PGMOL will try to do with this is present itself as having punished Coote and cleaned house. Borrowing an idea from Sara Ahmed, but institutional processes will often sacrifice one or two bad eggs to reinforce the whole rotten institution.

          Apparently PGMOL knew of this video immediately in 2020 when it was filmed but then covered it up.

          Now say shit like his welfare is the most important. Come on.

          Corrupt organisation

            Clrnc Apparently PGMOL knew of this video immediately in 2020 when it was filmed but then covered it up.

            Now say shit like his welfare is the most important. Come on.

            You've gotta assume they all know of countless dialogues and messages where clubs, coaches and players are being slagged off. Makes perfect sense they wouldn't regard this one as an outlier warranting action.

            • Tam replied to this.

                Burnwinter No idea what this is, but the idea of one of these refs being a sex pest is gross.

                There are pictures of these refs with hookers out in Thailand I think, all of them taking photos. Alleged links to Asia betting syndicates as well but hard to prove that.

                Clrnc Now say shit like his welfare is the most important. Come on.

                People in the media have already started with that, he needs help blah blah. Mental heath has become the go to excuse when it comes to cover ups.

                    Burnwinter Not to absolve or defend Coote, but if I'm put in a position where I've got to stand on a touchline and have abuse screamed in my face from the likes of Klopp, without him receiving any meaningful reprimand for it, I'd have pretty colourful views on him as well.

                    I also think it shouldn't be a problem for people to both hold contrary views of individuals and be trusted to ref impartially. You would expect any professional to act within the rules, referees included.

                    The problem is that in many cases perceived bias and impartiality is being conflated with incompetence and poor structures, and resulting in some wild conspiracies.

                    That's separate from the clear conflicts in picking up ref jobs abroad linked to PL clubs.

                      My apologies, Indonesian hookers not Thai.

                        So he did some coke, fucked some hos, and insulted someone he didn’t like.

                        He ought to be executed. Firing squad.

                        Don’t care much for this story if I’m honest. His crime is poor judgement, which ironically is the real problem for me, and why I think he has to go, as that’s basically what his job is all about.

                        What they get up to in their spare time is their business, but he can’t be letting this shit get recorded on video.

                          flobaba I agree about not going to judge someone on specific actions even if I personally disagree with them. His poor judgement means that those private actions have become public and there does have to be accountability for those decisions. For me it means you can't be a referee as someone with a public profile and requiring trust that's gone now.

                          My bigger issue is what did the PGMOL know, if you were made aware of that incidents and don't have a means to intervene or discipline appropriately then you really aren't fit for purpose. What happens if he was a drug addict and it could be impacting his decisions? From the stories it looks like they aren't discrete so doesn't seem likely nobody have known something is going on that might need action.

                            Now I’m getting at the stage of worrying about this guys mental wellbeing

                            https://talksport.com/football/2270407/david-coote-premier-league-referee-drug-party-tottenham-man-city/?utm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=2024-11-14-Fresh-claims-

                            My advice to him : announce tomorrow you are quitting reffing for good. Start a ‘fun’ podcast. Will be rich over night.

                            Podcast could be called ‘Beyond the white line’ 🤪

                              “Surely he should have been concentrating on the game and not arranging drug parties” 😂