Argentin referee Nestor Pitana has capped a stellar season with his election as the World’s Best Referee 2018 in the annual IFFHS Awards. He succeeds the German Felix Brych who took place four this year. Pitana, 43 years old, was the referee of the 2018 World Cup final between France and Croatia. He made great performances during the month of the Russia World Cup, so he won with a large margin before the Dutch referee Björn Kuipers and the Serbian Milorad Mazic. Selected journalists and experts from 90 countries around the world took part in the 2018 annual election of the Top referee, the 32th time it has been carried out by the IFFHS. Nestor Pitana began in 2007 in the Argentina Primera Division and has received his FIFA badge in 2010. He was selected for two World Cups in Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018, where he made a great impression in the whole football world. He took place 5 last year in the IFFHS election. Milorad Mazic was the referee of the Champions League final 2018 between Real Madrid and Livverpool FC. Björn Kuipers continued to be part of the Top 6 since 5 years with his best place, the second in 2018. (Source: IFFHS)
IFFHS World’s Best Referees 2018
1. Nestor Pitana (ARG, photo) 180 p2. Björn Kuipers (NED) 100 p
3. Milorad Mazic (SRB) 86 p
4. Felix Brych (GER) 79 p
5. Cuneyt Cakir (TUR) 55 p
6. Gianluca Rocchi (ITA) 25 p
7. Alireza Faghani (IRN) 21 p
8. Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP) 18 p
9. Damir Skomina (SVN) 18 p
10. Sandro Ricci (BRA) 16 p
11. Malang Diedhiou (SEN) 14 p
12. Andres Cunha (URU) 13 p
13. Cesar Ramos (MEX) 7 p
14. David Fernandez Borbalan (ESP) 5 p
15. Janny Sikazwe (ZAM) 5 p
16. Martin Atkinson (ENG) 1 p
17. Matthew Conger (NZL) 1 p
18. Mark Geiger (USA) 1 p
