David Coote comes out as gay in ex-Premier League referee's first interview since sacking
David Coote comes out as gay in ex-Premier League referee's first interview since sacking
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Former Premier League referee David Coote has come out as gay in his first interview since being sacked by the PGMOL - and admitted he has used cocaine as an escape. Coote's refereeing career came to an end last year when he was found to have 'seriously breached' his contract by the PGMOL after a video emerged of him calling Liverpool "s***" and branding manager Jurgen Klopp a "German c***". Another video of him allegedly snorting a white powder just hours after working as a VAR official during Euro 2024 also circulated.
And now Coote has opened up on the incidents that saw his high-profile career come to an end. As well as announcing he's gay, he revealed he turned to cocaine over fear of coming out in the “macho world” of the Premier League. Coote told the Sun: "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.”.
