Clattenburg leaves referee analyst role at Forest
Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has left his role with Nottingham Forest, saying his position has "become more of a hindrance than help" to the club.
Clattenburg began working with the relegation-threatened Premier League club as a referee analyst in February.
He has been involved in high-profile incidents following refereeing decisions in Forest matches, including after defeat by Liverpool in March and a loss to Everton last month.
Clattenburg said his role has caused "unintended friction between Forest and other participants".
"It has also led to the unmerited targeting of me, personally, by certain participants and pundits," he said.
"Such reactions and outcome was not expected and is regrettable, as it is my sincere belief that there is a place for and value in such a role in the modern game."
Clattenburg publicly criticised referee Paul Tierney after Darwin Nunez scored a late winner for Liverpool at the City Ground earlier this season.
He said Forest should have been given the ball back after the match was stopped for an earlier foul, and was prevented from going into the referees' dressing room to speak to Tierney after the game.
Last month, Forest released a strongly worded statement following the defeat by Everton saying they were “considering their options” after three penalties were not awarded in their favour.
The club said they had "warned" the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOL) that "the VAR [video assistant referee] is a Luton fan but they didn't change him".
The statement led former Manchester United defender and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville to say Clattenburg should resign but the former referee repeated the criticism in a subsequent newspaper column.
Confirming his decision to leave almost two weeks later, Clattenburg, 49, said: "I performed my services under the consultancy agreement in good faith, to the best of my abilities and in the hope of using my extensive experience as a match official to help Nottingham Forest understand how decisions in relation to key match incidents are made amid the workings of VAR.
"However, it is now clear that the existence and performance of these consultancy services has caused unintended friction between Nottingham Forest and other participants, to the extent that it has become more of a hindrance than help to Nottingham Forest."
