'Crisis for referees & fuel for toxic fan conspiracies'

The video of Premier League referee David Coote’s alleged expletive-laden insults about Liverpool and their former manager Jurgen Klopp carries ramifications far wider than abusive words used on shaky mobile phone footage.

Coote has been suspended by refereeing body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) with immediate effect pending a full investigation, while the Football Association has launched its own investigation.

The video has been widely shared around social media. It has not been verified by the BBC, but a source has said the PGMOL investigation is treating it as genuine. There has been no denial nor apology yet from Coote.

If this proves to be legitimate, the fall-out will land on every official throughout football’s pyramid. In the current climate of social media debate, 24/7 punditry and tribal fandom, it will provide fuel for the conspiracy theorists who believe that any decision made against their team is provoked by a grudge, personal bias or dislike of their particular club.

The notion is misguided as any mistakes made by those who take charge of games, as with players, are because of honest human error, not ill-feeling towards - or bias against - a particular manager, player of club.

The problem for the head of PGMOL, Howard Webb, is that Coote’s words, should they be confirmed as genuine, will fly in the face of that belief to many, going to the heart of what should be every official’s personal code.

Referees will inevitably have clashes with teams and individuals given the high-stakes nature of professional football, but there must be a belief that any lingering antipathy is put aside the moment they take change of their next game.

The rise in dissent towards officials was reflected in the £1m of fines for surrounding referees and mass confrontations in 2022-23. That resulted in a clampdown on player and manager behaviour at the start of 2023-24 and by Christmas 2023, bookings for dissent had doubled to 1,813 from 966 at the same stage the season before.

The figure trebled in the Premier League from 24 to 80, with referees' chief Webb saying the "culture change" to try to "reset behaviours" towards officials was "early days" but "moving in the right direction".

As Webb has been at pains to point out, referees are human – but they must also be impartial and professional. The slate must be cleaned of any previous confrontations next time paths cross.

It is stretching reality to breaking point to suggest all is sweetness and light between officials, players and managers but what has to be real is the principle that none of this goes through any official's mind when it comes to the decision-making process.

In other words they, as in the time-honoured adage about Caesar’s wife, must be above suspicion.

The majority of sensible observers, though sometimes not those fans who choose to view decisions through the prism of their own partisanship, accept referees will make mistakes under the severest pressure. That pressure is very often from players and managers in the fierce hothouse of elite-level football, trickling right down to the grassroots.

Coote's alleged insults about Liverpool and Klopp – who even his biggest admirers would admit was confrontational from his technical area – allow sceptics to challenge that principle of integrity.

It plays straight into the hands of those supporters only too willing to cry "corruption" or feel referees "have it in" for their particular club.

Coote’s previous decisions when in charge of Liverpool games are already being scrutinised. He was on video assistant referee duty for the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park in October 2020 when Virgil van Dijk sustained a season-ending knee injury after a reckless challenge in the area by Everton keeper Jordan Pickford, with no penalty being awarded. Jordan Henderson had an stoppage-time winner ruled out for offside.

He was performing the same role in December 2023 when a clear handball from Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard – later acknowledged as a mistake by Webb – escaped punishment in a 1-1 draw at Anfield.

Mistakes, yes – but honest ones, only for the emergence of the Coote video to reopen a very large can of worms, presenting a crisis for Webb and PGMOL.

Referees are already under pressure and an unforgiving microscope. This latest development will only bring the entire debate into sharper relief.

Football Association data released late last year revealed serious offences against match officials in grassroots football increased in 2022-23.

There were 1,451 allegations, up by 1%, with 72 about an actual or attempted assault, 391 about actual or attempted physical contact and 988 relating to threatening a match official. There were 42 proven cases of assault or attempted assault.

The most high-profile challenge to the integrity of an official came from Nottingham Forest after a controversial 2-0 loss at Everton in April, when they felt three penalty decisions went against them.

Minutes after the final whistle, Forest’s social media account pointed an accusing finger at VAR Stuart Attwell, who they claimed was a fan of Luton Town, who were also in relegation trouble at the time.

The club posted: "Three extremely poor decisions – three penalties not given – which we simply cannot accept. We warned PGMOL that the VAR is a Luton fan before the game but they didn’t change him. Our patience has been tested multiple times. NFFC will now consider its options."

Forest were fined £750,000 by the FA in October for what was described as an "attack on the integrity of a match official on an unparalleled scale".

Attwell gave a statement to the panel about the "stress, distress, fear and embarrassment caused to him" as a result of the post, while Webb said it "has the potential of serving as a green light to those who seek to abuse officials and normalises questioning the integrity of all referees".

The Coote video, if genuine, may have just done the same disservice to every official in the land.