The majority of reasonable observers, if sometimes not fans, who view decisions through the prism of their own partisanship, accept that referees make mistakes under the greatest pressure. This pressure is very often exerted by players and managers from the heated hothouse of top-level football and radiates out to grassroots football.
Coote's alleged insults about Liverpool and Klopp – who even his greatest admirers would admit was confrontational from a technical perspective – allow skeptics to question this principle of integrity.
It plays right into the hands of fans who are all too ready to scream “corruption” or feel like the referees have “skin in the game” for their respective clubs.
Coote's previous decisions in charge of Liverpool games are already under scrutiny. He was on duty as a video assistant referee at the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park in October 2020 when Virgil van Dijk suffered a season-ending knee injury after Everton keeper Jordan Pickford made a reckless attack in the penalty area without being awarded a penalty was imposed. Jordan Henderson's injury-time winner was ruled out for offside.
He played the same role in December 2023 when Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard scored a clear handball – later recognized as a mistake by Webb – escaped a penalty in the 1-1 draw at Anfield.
Mistakes, yes – but honest ones, except that the emergence of the Coote video reopens a very large can of worms and represents a crisis for Webb and PGMOL.
The referees are already under pressure and a relentless microscope. This latest development will only further highlight the entire debate.
Football Association data published late last year showed that serious breaches of match officials in grassroots football increased in 2022-23.
There were 1,451 allegations, an increase of 1%, including 72 for actual or attempted bodily harm, 391 for actual or attempted physical touching and 988 for threatening a match official. There were 42 proven cases of bodily harm or attempted bodily harm.
The biggest challenge to a referee's integrity came from Nottingham Forest after a controversial 2-0 defeat at Everton in April, when they felt three penalties were against them.
Minutes after the final whistle, Forest's social media account pointed the 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 bad decisions – three penalties not given – that we simply cannot accept. We warned PGMOL before the game that the VAR was a Luton fan, but they didn't replace him. Our patience has been tested on several occasions. NFFC will now consider its options.”
forest were fined £750,000 condemned by the FA in October for an “assault on the integrity of a match official on an unprecedented scale”.
Attwell made a statement to the panel about the “stress, despair, fear and embarrassment caused to him by the post”, while Webb said he “has the potential to give the green light to those who try.” “Abusing officials.” “Normalizes questioning the integrity of all referees.”
The Coote video, if genuine, may have done the same disservice to every official in the country.
