Exclusive: Leicester’s Jamie Vardy faces FA trouble for David Coote slur to ref
Jamie Vardy could be in hot water with the Football Association for comments he made to match referee Andrew Madley about David Coote before Leicester City’s defeat to Chelsea on Saturday, Football Insider can exclusively reveal.
Vardy, 37, is believed to have made a derogatory comment to Madley on the pitch about his friend Coote shortly after the Leicester players arrived at the King Power Stadium for the lunchtime kick-off.
The former England international could be charged by the FA for an alleged misconduct breach when it completes a full analysis of the match report from Madley.
The FA was contacted by Football Insider on Sunday and they are in the process of reviewing Madley’s report before deciding to take any action.
It is understood that the Vardy incident was included as an “extraordinary incident” in a separate PGMOL report of the Leicester-Chelsea clash.
Vardy started for Leicester on Saturday in what turned out to be Steve Cooper’s final match as manager before he was sacked 24 hours later following an owner-led dressing room inquest.
Coote was suspended a fortnight ago pending an investigation into a video which emerged in which the 42-year-old appeared to make disparaging remarks about former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp in a video leaked online.
The FA also launched its own investigation into the video, which is being treated as genuine by the PGMOL.
Vardy could be heavily punished by the FA if his offence is deemed to have breached the governing body’s misconduct regulations.
Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur was given a seven-match ban last week week for an alleged racist remark made about South Korean teammate Son Heung-min in a TV interview.
Uefa, European football’s governing body, has also launched its own investigation and suspended Coote.
Following the release of the first video, the Sun newspaper published pictures it says were taken during this summer’s European Championship, alleging they appear to show Coote sniffing a white powder through a rolled up US bank note.
Coote worked at the Euros in his capacity as an official, and has been refereeing matches in the Premier League since 2018.
In other news, ‘Steve Cooper will be sacked tonight’ after latest – Leicester fans react.
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