David Coote's expletive-ridden rant about former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has been "blown out of proportion", ex-Premier League referee Jeff Winter has told Express Sport.
Leaked video footage from 2020 surfaced online on November 11 appearing to show Coote calling Klopp "arrogant" and a "German c***." He also referred to Liverpool as "s***", sparking outrage amongst football fans and pundits.
The Nottinghamshire official was suspended with immediate effect by the PGMOL as the refereeing body carry out an investigation into his conduct. Coote, 42, is waiting to hear the outcome of three investigations as the FA and UEFA carry out their own probes alongside the PGMOL review.
But Winter, a former top-flight official who was behind the whistle for 185 Premier League games, expressed his sympathy for Coote and claimed he was betrayed by people close to him.
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"Personally, and people might disagree with me, I didn't see that as a major thing," Winter told Express Sport, speaking on behalf of FreeBets.com. "It became a major thing when his so-called friend exposed him and it's in the public domain."
Coote and Klopp clashed on several occasions when operating as a referee and fourth official during Liverpool matches. His most recent match as an official came during the Reds' 2-1 win over Aston Villa last month.
In the video clip, the Nottinghamshire official accused Klopp of targeting him on the touchline.
He could be heard saying: "Aside from having a right pop at me when I was referee against Burnley during lockdown, then he's accused me of lying and he has just a right f***ing pop at me.
"And I've got no interest in speaking to someone who's f***ing arrogant, so I did my best not to speak to him."
Winter, now 69, admitted referees often talk about players and managers behind the scenes - but only to warn them of potential troublemakers.
"People talk about people in football, referees talk about managers," he said. "[For example, saying] 'I was fourth official last Saturday, Mr Klopp used the word that Coote used in the article, he was an absolute nightmare, be careful because he's onto you'.
"Of course they [referees] talk to each other [...] it's not just the case of two referees sitting down over a pint and slagging off a particular manager.
"The end result is to try and help some of them when you deal with that manager or team, so you've got a little bit of knowledge to go into the situation. That side of it [with Klopp] was totally blown out of proportion."
Coote is facing a further PGMOL probe after another video posted online allegedly showed Coote snorting a white powder through a rolled-up banknote. Addressing the footage, Winter added: "The second video that went round is a more different subject.
"Anybody else can do that [take drugs], whether it's legal or illegal or in privacy. But if you're in the public eye and in a certain position, I don't think it's ever going to go down well.
"David Coote was in a position of being a senior referee, but his future is in the hands of others now."
Jeff Winter was speaking on behalf of FreeBets.com
