Former Premier League referee David Coote has pleaded guilty at Nottingham Crown Court to making an indecent image of a child.
The 43-year-old was charged on 12 August following an investigation by Nottinghamshire Police and appeared in court on Thursday morning.
The judge told Coote, who stood in the dock with his hands clasped in front of him, that she was ordering a pre-sentence report to be carried out before he was to be sentenced.
She said: “You have pleaded guilty to a serious matter. Whether this means custody or not will be decided when all the information is before the court, which is why I have ordered a pre-sentence report.”
Nottinghamshire Police said the allegation relates to a video recovered by officers from Nottinghamshire Police in February. Coote was granted conditional bail at a magistrates' court hearing on September 11.
Coote was sacked by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) in December after a video of comments he made about former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp in 2020 came to light. The video was unverified but in the FA investigation, Coote stated that the video had been taken in his living room in June 2020 with a friend he knew from playing cricket.
During the investigation Coote said his words did not reflect his true feeling towards the ex-Liverpool boss, stating he does have a "deep professional respect". Coote also apologised to Klopp personally.
The PGMOL confirmed that they had terminated Coote's employment in December, saying that a thorough investigation concluded he was "in serious breach of the provisions of his employment contract, with his position deemed untenable".
He was also banned by UEFA, European football's governing body, until June 30 2026.
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