The former Premier League referee David Coote has pleaded guilty at Nottingham crown court to making an indecent image of a child.
The former football official appeared at Nottingham crown court on Tuesday in connection with an allegation relating to a category A video, the most serious kind, recovered by officers in February.
The 43-year-old, who wore a navy suit and black tie, spoke only to confirm his name and enter his plea during the hearing in front of Judge Shant KC.
The former referee, of Collingham, near Newark, Nottinghamshire, was granted conditional bail by Shant and told he must appear in court again on 11 December.
He was told not to contact any children and was handed a sexual harm prevention order.
The charge of making an indecent image of a child refers to activities such as downloading, sharing or saving abuse photos or videos. The court heard that the image was category A. Coote had previously denied the charge at Nottingham magistrates court in September.
Coote, who had worked as a Premier League referee, was sacked by the English refereeing body Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) last December after a video surfaced in which he made comments about the then Liverpool manager, Jürgen Klopp.
The games Coote refereed included 112 in the Premier League, 143 in the Championship and 30 in the FA Cup, as well as four international friendlies. He was a member of the select group of referees, the highest paid and most senior in the English game.
Shant told Coote that a pre-sentencing report was being ordered: “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.”
