A flurry of David Coote memes have flooded social media following a leaked video that allegedly shows the top Premier League referee making disparaging comments about Liverpool and former manager Jurgen Klopp.
Coote has been suspended by the PGMOL, the body responsible for refereeing games in England, after footage - which appears to be several years old - showed him calling then Reds boss Klopp a 'German c***' and 'f***ing arrogant'.
The PGMOL has launched an investigation and is looking into the possibility that it is a deep-fake or made using artificial intelligence. However, Coote, who refereed in Liverpool's 2-0 win against Aston Villa on Saturday, has admitted the video is genuine, according to the Daily Mirror.
The astonishing clip has led to a deluge of memes on social media mocking the 42-year-old, with one account of a European club even getting in on the fun.
It is perhaps perhaps the clearest example of how much attention this incident has garnered that Sevilla's official Facebook profile posted a still from the video allegedly showing Coote, with the message: 'When it’s the third international break of the season and it’s only November.'
One post, which has been viewed more than half a million times on X, features an image of a man with a pained expression on his face after presumably waking from a booze-induced slumber.
The accompanying caption read: 'Hey, Dave have you seen that video of you last night?!' David Coote:'
Another popular post on the social media platform superimposes the head of the official from the now infamous video into an image alongside viral sensation Haliey Welch also known as the 'Hawk Tuah girl'.
The 22-year-old started a podcast this year called 'Talk Tuah'. The caption on the post read: 'You will NOT BELIEVE what David Coote said on the Talk Tuah podcast.'
Constantly online individuals will be very familiar with Australian Jack Karlson, whose 1991 arrest outside a Chinese restaurant in Brisbane became one of the most viral clips in the country's history decades later.
The petty criminal, who died in August at the age of 82, could hilariously be heard saying 'What is the charge? Eating a meal? A succulent Chinese meal', in one of many memorable lines.
Naturally, one social media user substituted his face for Coote's and accompanied the image with the words: 'What is the charge? Telling the truth? The succulent, unadulterated truth?!'
The PGMOL confirmed Coote has been suspended with immediate effect in a statement on Monday.
It read: 'David Coote has been suspended with immediate effect pending a full investigation. PGMOL will be making no further comment until that process is complete.'
‘Liverpool were s***,’ said the man alleged to be Coote in the video. ‘(Klopp is a) ****, absolute ****. Aside from having a right pop at me when I was refereeing them against Burnley in lockdown, he accused me of lying and then had a right f***ing pop of me.
‘I have no interest in speaking to someone who is f***ing arrogant. So I do my best not to speak to him. (James) Milner is all right, I get on with him. You can see me there with a ‘mask’ on. But, my god, German ****, f*** me.’
In a second video, the man added: ‘Just to be clear, that f***ing last video cannot go anywhere, seriously.’
The game the man alleged to be Coote is referring to in the stunning video was Liverpool's controversial 1-1 draw with Burnley back in 2020.
In the match which saw Liverpool drop points for the first time at home that season, Andy Robertson was caught on camera angrily confronting Coote in an expletive-laden rant after not being awarded a penalty.
Coote has been a Premier League referee since 2018 and has since had plenty of run-ins with Klopp, who left Anfield at the end of last campaign.
Midway through last season during Arsenal's clash with Liverpool in December, Klopp vented his fury at Coote and the rest of the match officials after his side were denied a penalty despite Martin Odegaard appearing to handle the ball inside the 18-yard box.
Chris Kavanagh, who was the match referee, waved play on and the game was not stopped for a VAR check by the officials, with Coote confident that the Norwegian only handled the ball in the act of falling, which isn't deemed punishable by the Premier League's rules.
'Yes I have seen it,' Klopp fumed after the game. 'I am pretty sure someone will come to explain it to me why it was not a handball but I don't know how? I don't say that the ref can see it because I don't know where he was in that moment.'
Referring to Coote's role in the incident, he added: 'But how can a guy in an office see that and not come to the conclusion that maybe, possibly it could be worth the referee having another look?'
Howard Webb, head of PGMOL, subsequently admitted that Kavanagh and Coote made a mistake by not awarding Liverpool a penalty during the 1-1 draw.
