Former Premier League referee David Coote has come out as gay in his first interview since being sacked by the PGMOL - and admitted he has used cocaine as an escape.
Coote's refereeing career came to an end last year when he was found to have 'seriously breached' his contract by the PGMOL after a video emerged of him calling Liverpool "s***" and branding manager Jurgen Klopp a "German c***". Another video of him allegedly snorting a white powder just hours after working as a VAR official during Euro 2024 also circulated.
And now Coote has opened up on the incidents that saw his high-profile career come to an end. As well as announcing he's gay, he revealed he turned to cocaine over fear of coming out in the “macho world” of the Premier League.
Coote told the Sun: "I felt a deep sense of shame during my teenage years in particular. I didn’t come out to my parents until I was 21. I didn’t come out to my friends until I was 25.
“My sexuality isn’t the only reason that led me to be in that position. But I’m not telling an authentic story if I don’t say that I’m gay, and that I’ve had real struggles dealing with hiding that.
“I hid my emotions as a young ref and I hid my sexuality as well - a good quality as a referee but a terrible quality as a human being. And that’s led me to a whole course of behaviours.”
Coote admits that the pressure of being a referee in the Premier League - and the abuse that is directed towards officials - meant he was unsure about coming out.
He added: "I’ve had issues around my self-esteem — and that relates to my sexuality. I’m gay and I’ve struggled with feeling proud of being ‘me’ over a long period of time.
“I have received deeply unpleasant abuse during my career as a ref and to add my sexuality to that would have been really difficult. There’s a lot to be done throughout football and more widely in society with regard to discrimination.
“I didn’t want to be that person that was putting their head above the parapet to be shot at, given the abuse we all get as a referee in any event.”
Coote also discussed using cocaine as an escape, as he suppressed his emotions while also having a hectic working schedule. On his drug use, he added: "It’s not something I was reliant on day by day, week by week, month by month.
“I’ve had long periods where I’ve not used it — but it was one of the escape routes I had. Just getting away from the stresses, the relentlessness of the job. It fills me with a huge sense of shame to say that I took that route.”
After the video slamming Liverpool and Klopp emerged, he was immediately suspended and his sacking was announced by the PGMOL last month. Coote ultimately decided not to appeal his sacking, and has not commented on his situation until now.
The Football Association opened its own investigation into the video involving Liverpool, understood to be centred on that last comment and whether Coote’s reference to Klopp’s nationality constituted an aggravated breach of its misconduct rules.
The investigation by PGMOL which led to Coote’s contract being terminated is also understood to have looked at another video which appeared to show Coote snorting a white powder, purportedly during Euro 2024 where he was one of the assistant VARs for the tournament.
European football’s governing body UEFA also appointed an ethics investigator to look into the matter.
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