David Coote comes out as gay as sacked Premier League referee admits hiding his sexuality led to 'really poor choices'

Sacked Premier League referee David Coote has come out as gay and says his lifelong struggle to hide his sexuality was a factor behind losing his job.

Coote's career as a referee ended last year after he was deemed to have 'seriously breached' his contract by the PGMOL, following the release of a video showing him disparaging Liverpool with expletives and insulting manager Jurgen Klopp. Additionally, footage allegedly displaying him snorting a white substance mere hours post serving as a VAR official during Euro 2024 made rounds online.

In his first interview since the scandal, Coote lifted the lid on the incidents that saw his high-profile career come to an end. He told the Sun: "I’ve had issues around my self-esteem – and that relates to my sexuality. I’m gay and I’ve struggled with feeling proud of being 'me' over a long period of time

"I felt a deep sense of shame during my teenage years in particular. I didn’t come out to my parents until I was 21. I didn’t come out to my friends until I was 25. My sexuality isn’t the only reason that led me to be in that position. But I’m not telling an authentic story if I don’t say that I’m gay, and that I’ve had real struggles dealing with hiding that.

"I hid my emotions as a young ref and I hid my sexuality as well – a good quality as a referee but a terrible quality as a human being. And that’s led me to a whole course of behaviours."

Coote also reflected on the uncertainty and apprehension he faced about coming out publicly in fear of the abuse he would receive. He added: "I have received deeply unpleasant abuse during my career as a ref and to add my sexuality to that would have been really difficult.

"There's a lot to be done throughout football and more widely in society