The majority of sensible observers, though sometimes not those fans who choose to view decisions through the prism of their own partisanship, accept referees will make mistakes under the severest pressure. That pressure is very often from players and managers in the fierce hothouse of elite-level football, trickling right down to the grassroots.
Coote’s alleged insults about Liverpool and Klopp – who even his biggest admirers would admit was confrontational from his technical area – allow sceptics to challenge that principle of integrity.
It plays straight into the hands of those supporters only too willing to cry “corruption” or feel referees “have it in” for their particular club.
Coote’s previous decisions when in charge of Liverpool games are already being scrutinised. He was on video assistant referee duty for the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park in October 2020 when Virgil van Dijk sustained a season-ending knee injury after a reckless challenge in the area by Everton keeper Jordan Pickford, with no penalty being awarded. Jordan Henderson had an stoppage-time winner ruled out for offside.
He was performing the same role in December 2023 when a clear handball from Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard – later acknowledged as a mistake by Webb – escaped punishment in a 1-1 draw at Anfield.
Mistakes, yes – but honest ones, only for the emergence of the Coote video to reopen a very large can of worms, presenting a crisis for Webb and PGMOL.
Referees are already under pressure and an unforgiving microscope. This latest development will only bring the entire debate into sharper relief.
Football Association data released late last year revealed serious offences against match officials in grassroots football increased in 2022-23.
There were 1,451 allegations, up by 1%, with 72 about an actual or attempted assault, 391 about actual or attempted physical contact and 988 relating to threatening a match official. There were 42 proven cases of assault or attempted assault.
The most high-profile challenge to the integrity of an official came from Nottingham Forest after a controversial 2-0 loss at Everton in April, when they felt three penalty decisions went against them.
Minutes after the final whistle, Forest’s social media account pointed an accusing 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 poor decisions – three penalties not given – which we simply cannot accept. We warned PGMOL that the VAR is a Luton fan before the game but they didn’t change him. Our patience has been tested multiple times. NFFC will now consider its options.”
Forest were fined £750,000 by the FA in October for what was described as an “attack on the integrity of a match official on an unparalleled scale”.
Attwell gave a statement to the panel about the “stress, distress, fear and embarrassment caused to him” as a result of the post, while Webb said it “has the potential of serving as a green light to those who seek to abuse officials and normalises questioning the integrity of all referees”.
The Coote video, if genuine, may have just done the same disservice to every official in the land.
