# Néstor Pitana

Néstor Fabián Pitana (Spanish pronunciation:; born 17 June 1975) is an Argentine former football referee who refereed at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, 2015 Copa América and 2018 FIFA World Cup. He oversaw the opening match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup between Russia and Saudi Arabia. Pitana was appointed to take charge of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final between France and Croatia at Moscow 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).

## Controversies
### 2018 World Cup final

Pitana's performance in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final has seen some 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 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'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

"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

2014 FIFA World Cup – Brazil :
| Date | Match | Venue | Round |
| 17 June 2014 | Russia – South Korea | Cuiabá | Group stage |
| 22 June 2014 | United States – Portugal | Manaus | Group stage |
| 25 June 2014 | Honduras – Switzerland | Manaus | Group stage |
| 4 July 2014 | France – Germany | Rio de Janeiro | Quarter-final |
| 2018 FIFA World Cup – Russia ||||
| Date | Match | Venue | Round |
| 14 June 2018 | Russia – Saudi Arabia | Moscow | Group stage |
| 27 June 2018 | Mexico – Sweden | Ekaterinburg | Group stage |
| 1 July 2018 | Croatia – Denmark | Nizhny Novgorod | Round of 16 |
| 6 July 2018 | Uruguay – France | Nizhny Novgorod | Quarter-final |
| 15 July 2018 | France – Croatia | Moscow | Final |

## Statistics

| Tournaments | Constester | Years | Matches | | Average | | Average |
| Primera División de Argentina | AFA–SAF | 2007– | 269 | 1275 | 4.74 | 89 | 0.33 |
| 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 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 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 | 0 | 0.00 |
| FIFA World Cup | FIFA | 2014; 2018 | 9 | 23 | 2.56 | 0 | 0.00 |
| FIFA Confederations Cup | FIFA | 2017 | 2 | 5 | 2.50 | 0 | 0.00 |
| FIFA World Cup qualification CONMEBOL | FIFA | 2011– | 10 | 52 | 5.20 | 3 | 0.33 |
| FIFA World Cup Intercontinental play-offs | FIFA | 2017 | 1 | 7 | 7.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Friendlies | FIFA | 2011–2012 | 2 | 11 | 5.50 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 2016 Río de Janeiro | IOC–FIFA | 2016 | 2 | 5 | 2.50 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Totals | Totals | 2006– | 422 | 1973 | 4.67 | 124 | 0.29 |
| Matches as referee are correct as of 13 August 2018 ||||||||
Source: worldfootball.net