Six days before the long-awaited clasico between Marseille and PSG, the Professional Football League (LFP) has revealed the names of the referees who will officiate at the Vélodrome stadium, this Sunday March 31, at the end of the 27th day of Ligue 1. The very experienced Benoît Bastien was appointed.
He will be assisted by Hicham Zakrani and Aurélien Berthomieu.
Marc Bollengier will be the fourth referee of the match.
Benoît Bastien will also be accompanied by Jérémie Pignard and Hamid Guenaoui at the VAR.
This will be the seventh time that the 40-year-old referee has officiated this meeting.
With the native of Épinal on the whistle against Marseille, PSG has never lost: five victories and a draw (0-0), the most recent in October 2021.
Benoît Bastien has nearly 236 Ligue 1 matches to his credit as head referee.
This OM-PSG will be its fifteenth match in the French championship in 2023-2024.
This season, Luis Enrique's players won the two matches that Bastien led: the trip to Rennes (1-3) in October and the reception of Monaco (5-2) in November.
Conversely, the Marseille club suffered three losses when he was the main referee: against Monaco (2-3), Lens (0-1) and against Olympique Lyonnais (0-1).
Benoît Bastien's refereeing has been the subject of several controversies in recent seasons.
In February 2023, Lens publicly complained about its decisions during the draw (1-1) against Brest.
His choices have often also been contested by Olympique de Marseille.
This Sunday, Jean-Louis Gasset's players, seventh in Ligue 1, will host a somewhat weakened PSG, probably deprived of Bradley Barcola.