Referee David Coote allegedly attempted to organise a ‘drugs party’ while he was officiating a match between Tottenham and Manchester City last month.
On Monday, Coote was suspended from domestic refereeing duty by the PGMOL [Professional Game Match Officials Ltd] after a video emerged of him making derogatory comments about Liverpool and their former manager Jurgen Klopp.
The 42-year-old appeared to call Liverpool ‘s**t’ and Klopp a ‘German c**t’ after a match in 2020.
Then on Wednesday, another video emerged appearing to show him snorting a white powder, which was supposedly recorded while Coote was on duty at Euro 2024.
UEFA have also suspended the Premier League referee and investigations have been launched into the two incidents.
Now, a report from The Sun claims that Coote contacted a friend just minutes before he was set to officiate a massive cup clash, trying to organise a ‘drugs party’ in a hotel for after the match.
The game in question was Tottenham’s 2-1 win over Man City in the Carabao Cup on October 30, where Coote was the fourth official.
The friend in question told The Sun: ‘On the day of the game he was messaging me repeatedly and wanting a drugs party after he’d finished at Spurs.
‘He didn’t book the Travelodge until just before kick-off, then sent a notification 11 minutes from the game starting. It was crazy.
‘City striker Erling Haaland was on the bench, so I was watching them on TV pretty much side by side. And moments before and afterwards he sent me messages.’
With kick-off at 8.15pm, it is said he booked a room at a Travelodge at 7.38pm and sent a booking notification to someone else at 8.04pm.
Coote then texted the friend again at the break, saying: ‘Hope you’re getting ready’.
‘When he messaged me at half-time I thought it was so surreal. Surely he should have been concentrating on the game, not arranging drugs parties,’ the friend added.
The party never occurred however: ‘I didn’t feel like meeting up in the end so told him I couldn’t make it.
‘He went mad and asked for the £73.99 total booking fee back.’
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