Farid Benstiti

Who is Farid Benstiti?

Farid Benstiti is a French football coach, currently in charge of Paris Saint-Germain in the Division 1 Féminine.

As a player Benstiti was a midfielder. He started his career in 1984 for Olympique Lyonnais. In 1989 he moved to Cercle Dijon, and he subsequently played for AS Lyon-Duchère, FC Sète and Avenir Lembeek in the French and Belgian third tiers, and Vaulx-en-Velin and Gap FC in lower categories. He retired in 2000 at 33.

Benstiti is best known for his managerial career in women's football, which started in 2001 as he was appointed Olympique Lyonnais' manager. Under Benstiti Olympique won four championships in a row between 2007 and 2010 and reached the 2010 Champions League's final, lost to Turbine Potsdam on penalties. However, he left the position after the 2010 season. In September 2011 he signed for the Russian national team and months later he also took charge of Russian champion WFC Rossiyanka, replacing Vera Pauw and Tatiana Egorova respectively. In July 2012 he left both positions and returned to France for personal reasons. He then signed for Paris Saint-Germain.