Suspended English Premier League referee David Coote is the subject of another investigation by the English Football Association (FA), this time following allegations that he discussed the possibility of booking a player with a fan before a match.
Coote denies any wrongdoing, according to British newspaper the Sun, which published the allegations.
The Sun has claimed Coote discussed the prospect of booking a then-Leeds player, Ezgjan Alioski, with a supporter of the club the day before a game against West Bromwich Albion in the second-tier English Championship in October 2019.
Photo: Reuters
The newspaper alleged that after Coote booked the player, he messaged the supporter back to say: “I hope you backed as discussed.”
“These are very serious allegations,” the FA said. “And we are investigating as a matter of urgency.”
The Sun’s story included a statement from Coote, in which he said: “Whatever issues I may have had in my personal life they have never affected my decision-making on the field.
“I have always held the integrity of the game in the highest regard, refereeing matches impartially and to the best of my ability,” he was quoted as saying.
Coote was suspended on Nov. 12 by England’s referee body, the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), after a video circulated of him making offensive comments to friends about former Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp.
The PGMOL and the FA started investigations.
UEFA also launched an investigation into Coote following a video, again published by the Sun, allegedly showed him using cocaine during the UEFA EURO 2024.
“The facts need to be established in light of these very serious allegations,” the PGMOL said regarding the latest allegation about the yellow card in the Leeds match. “We adopt a zero-tolerance approach to any breach of our Integrity Code of Conduct, which is signed by all match officials on an annual basis. PGMOL Board is committed to taking the appropriate action should any breach of that code be proven.”
American rugby sevens star Ilona Maher is to join 15-a-side club Bristol next month in a bid to play in next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup, the English club announced on Monday. Maher, 28, helped the US to a bronze medal at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris and is the seven-a-side sport’s most popular player on social media. “This is a huge coup to be able to bring Ilona Maher to Bristol Bears on a short-term deal,” Bristol head coach Dave Ward said. “She is one of the biggest names in women’s sport, let alone rugby, and we believe she will
New Taipei Kings guard Jeremy Lin on Friday was named the Taiwan Professional Basketball League’s (TPBL) Player of the Month, the first domestic player to win the award, while the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers are to welcome their third head coach in less than a year. Lin averaged 22 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists over five games in October and last month, helping the Kings to second in the standings with a 4-2 record as of Friday. The Kings last night defeated the Lioneers 96-78 to move level with the top-of-the-table Formosa Dreamers (5-2), while in the night game, the New Taipei
LeBron James is in quite the shooting slump — especially from long distance, highlighted by his zero-for-four effort from three-point range for the Los Angeles Lakers in their 109-80 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday. That return stretched the nearly-40-year-old’s skid to zero-for-19 from deep over his past four games. James’ birthday is on Dec. 30. After going four-for-16 from the floor overall with six of his team’s 20 turnovers for a season-low 10 points against the Timberwolves, James was asked to reflect on the Lakers reaching the quarter mark of their 2024-2025 schedule under rookie coach J.J. Redick at 12-9. “I
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
RSS