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Mark Clattenburg has resigned from his role as Nottingham Forest’s referee analyst in the wake of the club’s controversial handling of contentious decisions by VAR.
Clattenburg was appointed by Forest in February to the unusual position, which involved assessing refereeing performances and leading the club’s response to apparent miscarriages of justice on the field.
But he faced calls to resign amid a fierce backlash to Forest’s statement on social media last month which accused VAR Stuart Attwell of bias by suggesting his support of relegation rivals Luton Town meant he was unfit to officiate Forest games.
Both the Premier League and the Football Association opened investigations into Forest’s accusation of bias against an official, which they and the referees’ body, the PGMOL, take extremely seriously.
Clattenburg has walked away before any conclusion to those investigations, insisting he performed his role “in good faith”.
“This is to announce that I will no longer be providing match analysis services to NFFC,” Clattenburg said in a statement. “Since February this year, I have been proud to have done so under a consultancy agreement between NFFC and Referee Consultant Ltd.
“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 NFFC 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 NFFC and other participants, to the extent that it has become more of a hinderance [sic] than help to NFFC. It has also led to the unmerited targeting of me, personally, by certain participants and pundits.
“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. I am grateful to NFFC and wish them all the best during the remainder of the season and in the future. It’s been an honour.”
more to follow…