Néstor Fabián Pitana (; born 17 June 1975) is an Argentine former football referee who refereed at the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

, 2015 Copa América and

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

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

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. 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 FIFA World Cup, 2018 World Cup, the 21st edition of FIFA's competition for national association football, football teams. The match was played at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russ ...

between

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

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, who did the same in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Controversies

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 Assistant referee (association football), match official in association football who assists the referee by reviewing decisions using video footage and providing advice to the referee based on those revi ...

(VAR) technology. France's first goal was scored from a free kick that was seen by many as a dive from Antoine Griezmann ( 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 as a winger for Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven and the Croatia national team. Usually deployed as a left winger, he has also featured as a left wing-back, ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor 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 thr ...

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

2021 Copa America

"And not for the first time in his career," Pitana's decisions during the 24 June 2021 Copa America game between Brazil and Colombia were also a source of intense controversy. At the 78th minute, Pitana continued the game on a ball that had hit his legs, which according to International Football Association Board rules, should have led to a stop of play. As the Colombian players stood still expecting play to be paused, Brazil scored, tying the match and eventually contributing to Brazil's 2-1 victory.

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 2019 Copa América referees 2021 Copa América referees 2018 FIFA World Cup referees FIFA World Cup finals match officials Football referees at the 2016 Summer Olympics {{Argentina-footy-bio-stub