Néstor Fabián Pitana (; born 17 June 1975) is an Argentine former football referee.Profile on worldreferee.com. He refereed at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, 2015 Copa América, 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, 2018 FIFA World Cup and the 2021 Copa America. Pitana was selected to oversee the 2018 FIFA World Cup final between France and Croatia. He became the second referee to take charge of the opening game and a final in the same tournament, after fellow Argentinian Horacio Elizondo.
Selected matches
2018 World Cup final
Pitana's performance in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final has seen significant controversy, mostly related to the use of Video Assistant Referee (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 forbade VAR intervention). 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's handball. After a lengthy deliberation, Pitana awarded the penalty to France, which many pundits called an incorrect interpretation of the rules.
2021 Copa America
Pitana's decisions during the 2021 Copa America Group B game between hosts Brazil and Colombia faced significant 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.
FIFA World Cup record 2014 FIFA World Cup – Brazil Date Match Venue Round 17 June 2014 – Cuiabá Group stage 22 June 2014 – Manaus Group stage 25 June 2014 – Manaus Group stage 4 July 2014 – Rio de Janeiro Quarter-final 2018 FIFA World Cup – Russia Date Match Venue Round 14 June 2018 – Moscow Group stage 27 June 2018 – Ekaterinburg Group stage 1 July 2018 – Nizhny Novgorod Round of 16 6 July 2018 – Nizhny Novgorod Quarter-final 15 July 2018 – Moscow Final
Statistics TournamentsConstesterYearsMatches Average Average Primera División de Argentina AFA–SAF2007–26912754.74890.33 Primera B Nacional AFA 2006–2017 61 278 4.55 14 0.23 Copa Argentina AFA 2011– 4 19 4.75 1 0.25 Supercopa Argentina AFA 2014 1 4 4.00 0 0.00 Relegation AFA 2009–2012 4 27 6.75 00.00 Copa América Conmebol 2015 2 8 4.00 1 0.50 Copa Conmebol Libertadores Conmebol 2010– 34 158 4.64 7 0.21 Copa Conmebol Sudamericana Conmebol 2010– 16 79 4.94 7 0.44 Recopa Conmebol Sudamericana Conmebol 2012; 2015 2 11 5.50 2 1.00 South American Under-17 Football Championship Conmebol 2011 3 11 3.67 00.00FIFA World CupFIFA 2014; 2018 9 23 2.56 00.00FIFA Confederations CupFIFA 2017 2 5 2.50 00.00FIFA World Cup qualification CONMEBOLFIFA 2011– 10 52 5.20 3 0.33FIFA World Cup Intercontinental play-offsFIFA 2017 1 7 7.00 0 0.00FriendliesFIFA 2011–2012 2 11 5.50 0 0.002016 Río de JaneiroIOC–FIFA 2016 2 5 2.50 0 0.00Totals 2006– 422 1973 4.67 124 0.29Matches as referee are correct as of 13 August 2018 Source: worldfootball.net
Honours IFFHS World's Best Referee: 2018
References
External links
Néstor Pitana