Gary Neville takes shock stance on David Coote refereeing scandal | OneFootball

Former Manchester United defender and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has come out in defence of the suspended Premier League referee David Coote.

The Nottinghamshire-born official is the subject of an investigation from Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL) and the Football Association after a video, seemingly filmed during the Covid-19 pandemic, emerged which allegedly showed Coote using foul language to lambast Liverpool and their former manager Jurgen Klopp.

Coote repeatedly called Klopp a "c***" and described the ex-coach as "arrogant". The person filming the Premier League referee opened the video up by asking how Liverpool performed in a fixture he oversaw as a fourth official, to which Coote replied: "Liverpool were s***."

The video has sparked widespread accusations of corruption, but Neville argued on The Overlap US: "I didn't see anything within his words which told me that he had influenced decisions in the wrong way, that he was looking to do Liverpool over, do another club over."

The 49-year-old insisted: "I don't believe David Coote is anti-Liverpool in games. I don't believe he gives bad decisions against them because he wants to."

Neville reasoned: "I actually think the worst words in the video were said by the guy sat next to him when he said, 'I hate Scousers'. Because that demonstrates a hatred towards a group of people. David Coote never said those words. It was said by the guy next to him.

David Coote refereed Liverpool's last Premier League fixture / James Gill - Danehouse/GettyImages

"He's been stitched up. It's very sloppy. It's a mess."

Coote has been suspended from all Premier League matches pending the conclusion of the investigation, but the prevailing theory is that the 42-year-old will not referee another top-flight fixture. Neville did not agree.

"I feel like taking him off Liverpool games and give him a final warning is probably something that should happen," the United icon conceded, "but I don't feel he should lose his career and lose everything he's worked for all his life. I don't feel he's crossed that line."

The date and location of the video remains unconfirmed, although it has been suggested that it took place shortly after Liverpool's 7-2 loss to Aston Villa in October 2020. "We've all sort of been there," Neville shrugged, "where we've probably had too many drinks and we've done something maybe in our years where we would have probably not wish we'd done it."

"I bring it back to what has he actually said; he doesn't like a manager, he thinks a certain manager was against him," Neville concluded. "And he's going to lose his livelihood and his career because of that and I don't feel comfortable with that."