The man filmed next to David Coote in a viral anti-Liverpool video has been named as Ben Kitt, who has been reportedly suspended from his current job.
The football world was left shocked this week after a clip emerged on social media of Premier League referee Coote appearing to call Liverpool ‘s**t’ and former Reds manager Jurgen Klopp a ‘German c**t’ after a match in 2020.
‘C**t. Absolute c**t,’ Coote appears to say when asked by Kitt for his views on Klopp. ‘Aside from having a right pop at me when I refereed them against Burnley in lockdown, then he accused me of lying and then just had a right f****g pop at me. I have no interest in speaking to someone who is f*****g arrogant.’
Coote has been suspended pending a full investigation for those remarks and the same is now true for the other man in the video, with his identify now revealed by The Telegraph.
Kitt is a former cricketer – who failed to make a first-class appearance for Notts -and now works for an executive recruitment firm called Forsyth Barnes.
In the viral anti-Liverpool clip, Kitt says: ‘Long story short: Jürgen Klopp’s a c**t, Liverpool are all f*****g b***ends and we hate Scousers.’
In response, Roheel Ahmad, Forsyth Barnes co-founder, told The Telegraph: ‘Forsyth Barnes understands that the leaked video of David Coote includes one of its employees, Ben Kitt.
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‘This is something that we are taking very seriously and we have suspended Ben on full pay while we investigate further.
‘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.
‘In his time with the business, Ben has demonstrated a strong [work] ethic and dedication to his career.
‘He has matured considerably and grown into a responsible young man.
‘To protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation, Forsyth Barnes will not be making any further comments.’
Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) says it will not be making further comment on the Coote case until its investigation is completed.