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Are referees not allowed to hold opinions then? Which is what you seem to be suggesting.
He’ll be punished because he was stupid enough to be filmed expressing those opinions, not because of the opinion itself.
andyp-
There are holding opinions and then there’s what Coote said.
If he’d just said Klopp’s a twat, without mentioning anything about his nationality, he might still be working next week.
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Not sure if a reading comprehension fail or a willful misreading of my comment - what did I say that gave you the idea refs aren't allowed to hold opinions? The sole problem I think he will/should be punished for is calling someone a German cunt. If you mean my last point about undermining trust - exactly as you say, I think it's unhelpful to have their opinions broadcast in such crude terms, not that they shouldn't privately hold them.
lahdelah
owl
This is just a bad take. He does call him a 'German Cunt' (it's mistitled by the auto-subtitles but very clearly audible) and this is what he will be punished for. It's obviously totally unacceptable, considering one of the ref's responsibilities is to look out for and report on any such discriminatory language.
I don't think anyone is formally claiming that he has been partial, and that certainly isn't what will be acted upon.
If you want to be serious about it your final line "we can all suspect it might be a problem" - this may be the most severe damage - it further undermines trust (see also the released VAR audio from the spurs goal vs liverpool last year) in the competency and impartiality of the officials and when conspiracy nonsense is an increasing threat in society at all levels (see our own long-standing member in the US politics thread) this sort of thing is just grist to the mill of conspiracy nuts. Which is unhelpful at best.