David Coote was sacked by the PGMOL after two leaked videos emerged online (Image: GETTY)
has opened up on the horrific abuse he received following the emergence of two leaked videos on social media last year.
The former referee was relieved of his duties by the PGMOL after he was shown .
A second video, which was widely shared online, .
Opening up on the abuse that followed in an interview with , Coote revealed that he was subjected to death threats and said that others wished harm on members of his family.
Coote apologised for the Liverpool video and admitted to using cocaine as an ‘escape’ (Image: GETTY)
“My old tag was released on a social media platform and I received friend requests, message requests,” said Coote.
“There were death threats, wishes that I had an accident on the way home but I didn’t die, that I was I paralysed and suffered for the rest of my life.
“I had [people saying they] hoped my mum would die of AIDS overnight in her sleep. Multiple others along similar lines.”
, making it clear that he was deeply sorry for any offence caused.
“I want to apologise to anybody who I’ve offended by my actions,” he said. “I recognise that they fell well short of standards that are expected of a top level referee and I deeply regret saying what I said.
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“I deeply regret that I found myself in that position. The comments are not reflective of my views of any of the individuals concerned or my wider views in general.”
The video in question was filmed in 2020, with Coote admitting that he was ‘not sober’ when it was recorded.
In the same interview, , he admitted to using cocaine as an ‘escape’ from the trials and tribulations of everyday life.
“It’s not something I was reliant on day by day, week by week, month by month,” he explained. “I’ve had long periods where I’ve not used it, but it was one of the escape routes I had.
“Just getting away from the stresses, the relentlessness of the job. It fills me with a huge sense of shame to say that I took that route.”