PGMOL has no plans to test the referee for drug tests according to David Cote scandal

Despite David Coote's ongoing examination, the Professional Game Match Officers Limited (PGMOL) has no plans to introduce drug tests for referees, reports the Telegraph.

The 42-year-old referee was suspended last week after a video was supposedly shown how he snorted a white powder that was assumed that he was cocaine. It is unlikely that COOTE will return to the office in England, and discussions about a potential move to Saudi Arabia were pursued.

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UEFA and FIFA do not require drug tests for Match officials, and the PGMOL is aimed at this approach.

In the past, the justification behind the lack of drug tests for referees was that, unlike players, officials received no competitive advantage through the use of substances.

However, the allegations regarding COOTE have raised new questions whether this guideline must be revised.

The head of the former referee, Keith Hackett, has publicly asked to introduce drug tests, and previously proposed this to the PGMOL board.

The problem is particularly important for the Football Association (FA), which shares ownership of PGMOL and monitors anti-doping measures in English football.

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At the moment, players are exposed to strict test protocols that are managed by anti-doping in Great Britain (UK), including random blood and urine tests in games, training sessions and even at home.

The COOTE scandal is also under the UEFA examination after the publication of an eight second video, in which it uses an rolled-up banknote to use powder.

It was said to have 24 hours after Coote on July 5 as an assistant Var in France in 2024 European Championship quarterfinals against Portugal against Portugal against Portugal

Allegations of inappropriate behavior, including derogatory comments on Jürgen Klopp, have worsened the situation.

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PGMOL Referees will be convened this week at the Loughborough University for a planned training session in which the COOTE problem is expected to be a central topic of informal discussion.

While the consequences of the incident are continued, it remains to be seen whether the results will arrange for PGMOL to rethink his attitude towards the officials of the Premier League in drug test.