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Former Premier League referee Mike Dean believes David Coote could return to refereeing in the future, despite a controversial video emerging on social media which appears to show the official using insulting language about former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
The referees’ body PGMOL and the Football Association are both investigating Coote’s alleged remarks and the 42-year-old – who has been a Premier League referee since 2018 –has been suspended from duties.
The video, in which Coote appears to refer to Klopp as a “German c***”, has not been verified but the PGMOL is treating the footage as genuine and it is understood that Coote has not denied it is him speaking in the recording.
Dean, who is now a pundit on Sky Sports, said: “I don’t think he’s damaged his career beyond repair. I’d like to think that because it’s one of these things that’s never happened before, I don’t know what line the PGMOL will go down.
“They obviously need to get the correct investigation in place, where the source of the video came from, get David’s full story about what’s going on. I’d like to think that they can come to some kind of agreement, and it also depends as well on what’s gone on with David with all this media attention.
“Would David still want to carry on refereeing? That’s the bigger picture you’ve got to think of, because it doesn’t affect just David. It affects his friends and his family as well, so does he want to put himself through it yet again to come back in?
“Obviously it will be hard to come back in and start again, whether it’s in the Championship or Football League to start with and then get back into the Premier League, but it will be a hard step for him to come back.”
Dean believes the controversy will have a damaging effect on officials at every level of the English football pyramid.
He added: “It’s damaging for everybody involved. When I saw it yesterday I couldn’t believe it, when someone sent me the message to say ‘have a look at this’. You can look at it two or three times before you realise, crikey, who it is and what’s going on and what’s been said.
“I think all the way from the top down to the bottom, I’m talking right down to the bottom, it will devastate referees from grassroots all the way to the Football League, people trying to get onto that level. You’ve just got to be so careful about what you say, and it’s so out of character for David to do. I was astounded when I saw it.
“As referees you can’t put yourself in that position no matter what you do. You can say things away from camera, you can talk amongst your friends and things and colleagues, but you can’t let somebody video this and then hope that it’s never going to come out.”
Dean revealed he had a text message exchange with Coote, who he remembered as “one of the quieter referees in the group” but would not reveal the nature of the exchange.
additional reporting by PA
