Howard Webb believes there is no way back to refereeing for David Coote, saying the scandal-hit official would find it “really difficult” to return, even as Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) seeks to improve its approach to mental health.
Coote was this week handed a suspension by the Football Association over derogatory remarks he made about Jürgen Klopp on a video recorded during lockdown and leaked online. A number of other claims, which also led Coote to admit to drug use during his time as a referee, prompted his sacking by PGMO late last year and a Uefa ban.
Webb said the outcome of the Coote affair had been a “sad” one but the outcome was likely irreversible. “I think it’d be really difficult for David to come back, I’m afraid to say,” Webb, the chief referee officer, said. “He is somebody that we stay in contact with, somebody who was part of our refereeing family for a long time and served the game as well for a long period of time and I’ve known him personally for many years. So it’s sad what happened with David, but I would think it would be a challenging thing for him to come back.”
Webb said the scandal had caused PGMO to try to understand what had caused Coote to behave in the way he had, and to start having conversations around mental health which “we probably haven’t had previously”.
“It became apparent that David had made some bad choices away from the football field,” Webb said. “He was an employee of ours. So obviously we had to care for him and we had to try to understand why he made some of those choices and where they connected to the job that he had.
“We spoke to all of our officials as well other officials and said: ‘How are you feeling about all of this?’ And there was some feedback that came back from them about the support that they think they need. And then it was a good time for us to reflect on the services that we do provide within our own staff expertise.”
Webb said PGMO had subsequently sought to “beef up” its mental health provision, with increased referral to outside support, including sports psychologists. “We wanted to really emphasise to them that doing that was a sign of strength and not weakness,” he said. “And I think we’ve made good ground over the last few months in that respect because we’ve probably not had those conversations previously.”
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Webb said he had a “thick skin” as a referee and it was a given in the job. “But I think over time it can weigh you down”, he said. “Our only intention is to make sure the officials go out there in the best frame of mind and feeling confident. I think that [the Coote affair] opened our eyes to the need to have those conversations on a human level with our officials. Traditionally you just always say: ‘I’ve got a show strength, I’ve got to show resilience. I’ve got to show that they’re not nobody’s getting to me.’”
