TEHRAN – Payam Heydari will take charge of Sunday’s Tehran derby between Persepolis and Esteghlal.

Heydari, 36, is an international referee from 2015. He will be assisted by Mohammadreza Mansouri and Mohammadreza Abolfazli, while Vahid Kazemi has been named fourth official.

Esteghlal and Sepahan lead the Iran football league with 55 points. Persepolis are third with 54 points.

The derby is a battle between two rival clubs that represent the divide between the working and middle-class in Iran. With 26 wins for the upper-class Esteghlal, 25 for the working-class Persepolis, and 48 draws in 99 matches, the two teams have a long-standing history of intense competition that stretches back to the first derby match in 1968.