A former Nottinghamshire country cricketer has been suspended by his employers after allegedly appearing in the video in which Premier League referee David Coote called former Liverpool FC manager Jurgen Klopp a “c***” and “f****** arrogant”.
Coote’s alleged comments are under investigation by refereeing body PGMOL and the Football Association (FA), with PGMOL treating the footage as genuine.
The other man in the video has been confirmed as Ben Kitt, who now works for Nottingham-based executive search firm Forsyth Barnes after spending two seasons as a professional cricketer. Kitt did not make a professional appearance for Nottinghamshire CCC but featured regularly for their Second XI.
“This is something that we are taking very seriously and we have suspended Ben on full pay while we investigate further,” Forsyth Barnes co-founder Roheel Ahmad said in a statement released to the PA news agency.
“Although we are still in the process of gathering all the facts, we do know for certain that the video was taken some years before Ben became an employee of Forsyth Barnes.”
The 29-year-old Kitt can be seen in the leaked video asking Coote about Klopp and Liverpool.
Retired referee turned pundit Mike Dean believes the controversy will have a damaging effect on officials at every level of the English football pyramid.
“It’s damaging for everybody involved. When I saw it yesterday I couldn’t believe it,” he told Sky Sports.
“I think all the way from the top down to the bottom, I’m talking right down to the bottom, it will devastate referees from grassroots all the way to the Football League, people trying to get on to that level.
“You’ve just got to be so careful about what you say, and it’s so out of character for David to do. I was astounded when I saw it.
“As referees you can’t put yourself in that position no matter what you do. You can say things away from camera, you can talk amongst your friends and things and colleagues, but you can’t let somebody video this and then hope that it’s never going to come out.”
Additional reporting by PA