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.”
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
CHANCE TO QUALIFY: Both teams now have three points from two games, and Taiwan sit ahead of Vietnam and behind Japan, who last night beat India 11-0 Taiwan yesterday defeated Vietnam 1-0 to move into second place in Group C at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup with one match remaining. Su Yu-hsuan scored the decisive goal in the 26th minute after Taiwan midfielder Saki Matsunaga’s shot hit the crossbar, leaving Su to nod the rebound into an empty net for the team which won the last of their three Asian Cup titles in 1981. It was a deserved victory for Taiwan, 2-0 losers to Japan on Wednesday, who created several chances to extend their lead. Vietnam, the 2022 quarter-finalist, beat India in their opener, but struggled to
RSS