A raging Roy Keane has hit out at the decision to award France a penalty in the World Cup final after Ivan Perisic was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box, as he labelled referee Nestor Pitana “an idiot”.
Keane’s has cemented his reputation as one of the most outspoken soccer pundits in the ITV Sport studios this summer and he lived up to his billing as he clashed once again with former England striker Ian Wright.
Keane and Wright have been involved in a couple of memorable spats during this summer’s tournament and after the latter suggested referee Pitana was right to award France a penalty after looking at what appeared to be an accidental by Perisic in the box, a fuming Keane struggled to control his rage as he offered this retort.
“You need your head examining,” Keane barked at Wright. “Football is a great game, the greatest game on the planet, but that decision there disgusts me, absolutely disgusts me.
“The Croatian players deserve better than that. It’s a ridiculous decision. I’m fuming, disgraceful decision. That referee has never played football, I bet you he has never played football.”
“Where is the common sense? We end up talking about the referee. You are not supposed to be talking about referees. We should talk about the players, the quality and we end up talking about this idiot. It’s a crazy decision. I am just about to calm down.”
Keane’s fellow panellist Lee Dixon offered up similar views, as he suggested referee Pitana had made a huge mistake.
“In a thousand, million years or however long we will play football for, that is not a penalty,” declared Lee Dixon. “The process they went through with VAR was spot on and the referee has made an error to say that is a deliberate handball. He has made a massive mistake.”