Coote was sacked by PGMOL last year after he was found to have “seriously breached” his contract
By Kehinde Okeowo
Former English Premier League (EPL) referee, David Coote, has finally opened up on his sexuality, admitting he is “gay”.
He made this known during a recent interview with the UK Sun, where he also confessed he used cocaine as an escape.
Coote was sacked by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) last year after he was found to have “seriously breached” his contract.
The development followed the release of a video clip, in which he was seen calling Liverpool “s***” and branding their manager at the time, Jurgen Klopp, a “German c***”.
Apart from this, a video of him allegedly snorting a white powder after working as a VAR official during Euro 2024 was also leaked.
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After the videos surfaced on social media, Coote was immediately suspended and his sack was confirmed last month.
Speaking for the first time since the incident, the 42-year-old English referee, who opted not to appeal his sack addressed some of the scandals that saw his high-profile career come to an end.
He said: “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.”