Tips by World Cup final referee Nestor Pitana
Tips by World Cup final referee Nestor Pitana and his team. Great advice you can apply as referee at any level.
Work hard as team
Nestor Pitana talks about his dreams in an interview with FIFA. “For any kid who loves football, the dream is to get to the World Cup Final. This team have worked so hard to get where we are, we’ve managed one of the greatest achievements in the world of refereeing.”
His assistant referee Juan Pablo Belatti adds: “Work and more work. We’ve invested a lot of our time in something we’re passionate about.”
Ask yourself: which effort am I willing to take for my refereeing career? How do I find the balance in my life that suits me, my partner, work and my refereeing career?
Don’t change your routines
Although the World Cup final is a special occasion, Pitan’s advice is not to do things differently. “We won’t change what we’ve been doing up until now. We’ll be very focused as always, that’s what has got us here.”
That’s also what other referees will advice you to do. Dutch referee Dennis Higler gives you an example. “Don’t change the line-up or toss routines you have. You also need to be yourself at amateur level. Don’t do weird things because it’s a title clash.” So, be yourself and don’t change your routines.
Grab the chances you get
The rise of Nestor Pitana’s career starts five year ago. And it’s not just due to his hard work, but he needs also some luck. In an interesting article by Law 5 – The Ref you can read more about this. “The “lucky” year for him was 2013, indeed he was selected as alternative name to his countryman Diego Abal as referee from Argentina on the road to World Cup 2014.” Then he gets appointed for numerous big games and tournaments. Because Nestor Pitana grabs the chances he gets, he is able to develop towards his current top level.
A good tip for referees at any level. Go for it if you get the chance to prove yourself, which basically means: e-ve-ry single game.
9 Comments
Ankush Chakraborty
Really Grateful to Mr. Pitanas for sharing such a useful & important view on Refereeing career.
Thomas Severin
A distinct pleasure to watch Nestor manage all of his matches with authority, pride, humor, and intelligence. A wonderful role model for all officials, in every sport.
Joe Berk
Respectably, should not have made at least one of the calls leading to goals in the 2018 World Cup finals.
Egbert Egberts
I believed Pitana formerly was an actor. Watching him to lead the WorldCup final i saw he really was.
Db
Absolutely disappointed in the calls he made during the France vs Croatia game. Using VAR as he did really discredited him as a referee.. I wish that he was more skilled, because the game of soccer got really tainted during the final game and world cup lost its true meaning!
Jan ter Harmsel
I think that if you ask 100 referees the score for the penalty call will be fiftyfifty. Handballs are the most difficult situations, on which referee calls will differ the most.
Gabriel Thornton
So glad I found this. It’s my dream to referee the world cup final in the future.
Jan ter Harmsel
What will you do to reach that goal? Make sure to think about the small steps as well. Some tips!
Gabriel Thornton
I don’t know because I’m only 11 and still need to take courses when I am 14. It will be very tough