The Egyptian Football Association announced that 41-year-old French referee Benoit Bastien will take charge of the Al Ahly vs Al Masry clash on Friday.
Benoit Bastien will assisted by Hicham Zakrani and Aurelien Berthomieu with Thomas Leonard as fourth official. Bastien Deschpe is the VAR referee assisted by Romain Lesrouge.
Benoit Bastien previously refereed the French League Cup final during the 2014-15 season, when Paris Saint-Germain beat Bastia 4-0. He also refereed the 2016-17 French Cup final and the 2019-20 French Super Cup, both of which the Parisian giants won.
On the European scene, Bastien previously refereed the final of the European Under-21 Championship in 2017, where Germany won the title against Spain.
Bastien was not present at Euro 2024, but last season, he refereed 32 local and European matches, taking charge of the Saudi King’s Cup semi-final between Al-Hilal and Ittihad Jeddah and the Emir’s Cup final in Kuwait.
Last season, Bastien showed 127 yellow cards, and 6 red cards while awarding six penalties in all games he refereed.
Al Ahly requested foreign referees for their two games against Pyramids FC, the Cairo derby against Zamalek, and the upcoming Al Masry clash.
The game will start at 9 pm CLT on Friday 26 July 2024 at Borg El Arab Stadium, while Zamalek face Pyramids FC at the same time.
