French Whistle Heads to Riyadh Derby: Letixier to Officiate Al Hilal vs Al Nassr

French Referee to Handle Riyadh Derby

The Saudi Football Federation has announced the appointment of French official Francois Letixier to oversee the Riyadh derby between Al Hilal and Al Nassr on Monday evening.

The match will be played at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh as part of the Roshen Saudi League Matchday 15.

According to the sports daily, this derby marks Letixier's first visit to Saudi stadiums, as he has not previously refereed Roshen Saudi matches.

Francois Letixier was born on April 23 1989 in Béziers, France, and worked his way up through the local leagues before making his Ligue 1 debut in 2016, earning his FIFA badge in 2017.

Regarded as one of the top referees, he brings extensive experience having officiated in the UEFA Champions League and the European Super Cup final.

This season, he has refereed 16 games across competitions, including high profile ties such as Juventus versus Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League and Atletico Madrid versus Inter Milan.

The 36 year old has overseen 379 matches in his career, issuing 1426 yellow cards and 107 red cards.

Letixier's whistle will be heard in a land of passion where coffee is strong and the crowd louder than a stadium soundtrack.

Punchline 1: If a wrong call slips in the derby, Letixier will declare it a feature not a bug and move on.

Punchline 2: In Saudi football the whistle is faster than the counter attack and tonight it could be Letixier who decides the result.