Néstor Fabián Pitana (; born 17 June 1975) is an Argentine former football referee and former

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

who refereed at the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, 2015 Copa América and

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

. He oversaw the opening match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup between

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. Pitana was appointed to take charge of the

2018 FIFA World Cup Final The 2018 FIFA World Cup Final was the final match of the 2018 World Cup, the 21st edition of FIFA's competition for national football teams. The match was played at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, on 15 July 2018, and was contested by F ...

between

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

on 15 July 2018. He became the second referee to take charge of the opening game and the Final in the same tournament (after fellow Argentinian

Horacio Elizondo Horacio Marcelo Elizondo (born November 4, 1963 in Don Bosco, district of Quilmes) is an Argentine former international football referee best known for his officiation throughout the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Having achieved all his goals in refereeing ...

, who did the same in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

FIFA World Cup

2018 World Cup final

Pitana's performance in the

has seen some controversy, mostly related to the use of

Video Assistant Referee The video assistant referee (VAR) is a match official in association football who reviews decisions made by the referee. The assistant video assistant referee (AVAR) is a current or former referee appointed to assist the VAR in the video ope ...

(VAR) technology. France's first goal was scored from a

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

that was seen by many as a dive from

Antoine Griezmann Antoine Griezmann (; born 21 March 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and the France national team. A versatile player, Griezmann is known for his attacking, passing, and supportiv ...

( the rules at the time related to VAR forbade intervention in the case, however). France's second goal was scored from a penalty given after Pitana was informed by VAR that he may wish to review the recording of

Ivan Perišić Ivan Perišić (; born 2 February 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the Croatia national team. Usually deployed as a winger, he has also featured as an attacking midfielder, se ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

. After a lengthy deliberation, Pitana awarded the penalty to France, which many pundits called an incorrect interpretation of the rules.

Record

Statistics

''Source:'' ''worldfootball.net''

References

External links

Néstor Pitana 1975 births Living people Argentine football referees 2014 FIFA World Cup referees Argentine male actors Copa América referees 2018 FIFA World Cup referees FIFA World Cup Final match officials Football referees at the 2016 Summer Olympics {{Argentina-footy-bio-stub