The FA is looking into the claims that the referee talked about booking a player before the game

England’s Football Association (FA) said it is looking into claims that referee David Coote talked to a friend about giving a player a yellow card the day before a game. Coote has rejected the claims.

A newspaper called The Sun said on Tuesday that the friend had joked that he would give Ezgjan Alioski a yellow card during a second-tier match in 2019 against West Bromwich Albion so that the friend could place a bet with a gambler.

The next day, Coote gave Alioski a yellow card in the game. He then sent the fan a message saying, “I hope you backed as discussed.”
Coote said that as a judge, he had always been honest.

“I strongly deny these false and slanderous claims,” he said in a statement.

“No matter what problems I’ve had in my personal life, they’ve never affected how I work on the field.” I have always cared deeply about the fairness of the game and have always done my best to judge games in an unbiased way.

A spokesman for the FA said, “These are very serious claims, and we are looking into them right away.”

The English soccer refs’ group, PGMOL, said that the facts had to be found.

“We adopt a zero-tolerance approach to any breach of our Integrity Code of Conduct, which is signed by all match officials on an annual basis,” the group said.

“PGMOL Board is committed to taking the appropriate action should any breach of that code be proven.”

An email asking Leeds United for a reaction did not get a response right away.

Coote is already being looked into by the FA, the PGMOL, and UEFA, the governing body of soccer in Europe. He has also been banned by UEFA.

This month, a video of the 42-year-old reportedly insulting Liverpool and their former manager Juergen Klopp came out.

“David Coote remains suspended and subject to an ongoing disciplinary process by PGMOL, separate to the investigation into this matter which will be carried out independently by The FA,” PGMOL said.

“We will be making no further comment at this stage.”