As part of an obvious punishment of the political leadership (Federico Beligoy executes, but the order comes from above), Nestor Pitana was assigned two professional games in practically 24 hours, without any type of rest and having to travel from Tucuman to Santa Fe by land.
Pitana was appointed for the last game of matchday 11 and for the first game of matchday 12. In Tucuman, he had to referee Atletico Tucuman against Argentinos Juniors (Referee: Nestor Pitana. Assistant referee 1: Ivan Nunez. Assistant referee 2: Eduardo Lucero. Fourth official: Rodrigo Rivero. VAR: Fernando Rapalini. AVAR: Diego Romero). After finishing those 90 minutes, he traveled by land (approximately 800 km) all night, without sleeping, to open matchday 12 in Santa Fe with Colon – Estudiantes (Referee: Nestor Pitana. Assistant 1: Maximiliano Del Yesso. Assistant 2: Ariel Scime. Fourth official: Guillermo Gonzalez. VAR: Ariel Penel. AVAR: Andres Merlos). Two matches for the same referee (Nestor Pitana) within 24 hours, with overnight ground travel from Tucuman to Santa Fe. When El Litoral consulted referees and former referees about the union protection in this case, which is unprecedented, the answer was simple: "Pitana was left alone in SADRA; they want to kill his career." As it is known, Pitana, who refereed the World Cup final in Russia, has been persecuted by the refereeing leadership in Argentina. He was removed by AFA from the international list, but CONMEBOL continues to use him. On March 6, Beligoy had appointed Nestor Pitana for a game in Belgrano, while the draw had allocated him for the La Plata classic. When he realized the "error", Beligoy put German Delfino in Estudiantes – Gimnasia. "This will explode in a short time with something serious", referees confided to El Litoral from Buenos Aires. The truth is that what Beligoy did with Pitana is incredible: two games (first Atletico Tucuman-Argentinos on Thursday and then Colon-Estudiantes on Friday), without rest and having to travel all night from Tucuman to Santa Fe. Total madness.
Source: El Litoral
