Former Premier League referee David Coote has been charged with making an indecent image of a child.
Coote, 43, was dismissed from his officiating role in December after a video surfaced showing him making derogatory remarks about former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp in 2020.
The charge of making an indecent image of a child can cover downloading, saving, or sharing abusive photographs and videos. Nottinghamshire Police said the allegation stems from a video recovered in February.
Coote was formally charged on 12 August and released on conditional bail. He is due to appear before Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
The referee, once a regular in England’s top flight, was separately banned by UEFA until June 2026 after footage emerged of him snorting a white powder through a banknote while in Germany during Euro 2024.
In a January interview, Coote disclosed he was gay and admitted his struggle to conceal his sexuality had contributed to poor personal decisions.