World Cup 2018 final referee Nestor Pitana slammed for first-half of France vs Croatia by both BBC and ITV pundits
Roy Keane and Alan Shearer both stuck the boot into him for decisions leading to both of Les Bleus' goals
ROY KEANE branded World Cup final referee Nestor Pitana an "idiot" after his first-half performance.
The ref awarded Antoine Griezmann a free-kick when he appeared to dive, and used VAR to give a 38th-minute penalty after a controversial handball from Ivan Perisic.
Both set-pieces led to goals, with Mario Mandzukic accidentally heading in Griezmann's delivery into his own net and the France ace scoring from the penalty spot.
France went on to win 4-2 after an action-packed second half.
ITV pundit Roy Keane raged: "Football is the greatest game on the planet but that [penalty] decision disgusts me, absolutely disgusts me.
"The Croatian players deserve better than that. It was a ridiculous decision and I am fuming. It was a disgraceful decision. That referee has never played football, I guarantee it.
"Where is the common sense? We’re going to be talking about the referee which we shouldn’t be doing.
"We should be talking about the players and the quality but we’ve got to talk about this idiot."
Perisic handled in the area from a corner but had his view of the ball obstructed by Blaise Matuidi.
Pitana did not blow his whistle but awarded the penalty after using VAR.
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SunSport columnist Alan Shearer, working as a BBC pundit, added: "There's no way that's a deliberate handball. It hits him at incredible pace.
"He's made a big error in a World Cup final."
Rio Ferdinand and Jurgen Klinsmann echoed Shearer's view, while ex-Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg, speaking on ITV, said Pitana got it wrong.
He said: "His hands are in a natural position. No movement towards the ball. No penalty."
On Griezmann's free-kick, Shearer raged: "It was a ridiculous decision.
"Croatia are losing this game to a free-kick that wasn't a free-kick and a penalty that was no way a penalty.
"He [Griezmann] wasn't expecting to be hit and he wasn't and went down.
"He [Brozovic] doesn't touch him. He dives."