Playing in the Champions League final is a special occasion for anybody, regardless of whether they are at the beginning of their career or coming towards the end.
It is the showpiece event of European club football that always delivers drama.
In last season’s final, Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson made a point-blank save to deny Romelu Lukaku when they were leading Inter Milan 1-0 in the 88th minute. In May 2018, substitute Gareth Bale’s overhead kick helped Real Madrid beat Liverpool 3-1. And who can forget Chelsea’s dramatic victory over Bayern Munich in Munich on penalties 12 years ago?
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It is a significant moment and a career highlight for the team of officials in charge of these games, too.
Since the European Cup was rebranded as the Champions League in the early 1990s, no referee — not even Pierluigi Collina — has taken charge of more than one final. This is a rare opportunity that comes with a big responsibility. Mark Clattenburg commemorated refereeing the 2016 final by getting a tattoo on his forearm.
Slavko Vincic, from Slovenia, is in charge of the 2024 version, at Wembley in London tonight (Saturday) between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund. He will be assisted by his compatriots Tomaz Klancnik and Andraz Kovacic running the lines, while the fourth official will be Francois Letexier from France. The VAR team consists of Nejc Kajtazovic, Rade Obrenovic, two more Slovenians, and Massimiliano Irrati of Italy.
It is a remarkable turnaround for Vincic, 44, whose career was under serious threat four years ago this week when he was arrested after being caught up in a situation he would later describe as a “nightmare”.
Vincic was born in Maribor, his homeland’s second biggest city, in November 1979. He became a professional referee in 2007 and was tasked with officiating games in the Slovenian top flight. He moved further afield three years later, officiating games in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Greece, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Romania.
He made his debut at Europa League level in October 2014, when he took charge of a group game between Switzerland’s FC Zurich and Borussia Monchengladbach of Germany. Within two years he had stepped up to the Champions League for a 1-1 draw between Manchester City and Scotland’s Celtic. In May 2017, he acted as an additional assistant referee for Manchester United’s 2-0 victory against Ajax of the Netherlands in the Europa League final.
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Then came the moment that threatened to disrupt his career.
On May 30, 2020, Vincic was invited to a house party in Bijeljina — a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Police raided the property as part of an investigation into a drugs and prostitution ring, with Vincic among those arrested.
According to local media reports, 26 men and nine women were arrested, while officers seized 10 pistols, 14 packages of cocaine, phones, laptops and more than €10,000 (£8,509; $10,842) in cash. Vincic was questioned but never charged.
“I found myself on this ranch by chance,” Vincic later told Slovenian news outlet Vecer. “I have my own company. I was in Bosnia and Herzegovina for a business meeting and accepted an invitation to lunch, which turned out to be my biggest mistake. I regret it. I was sitting at a table with my company; all of a sudden, the police came and what happened, happened.
“I have nothing to do with the group that was arrested and detained, nor do my business partners. Yes, they really took us to the police, asked as witnesses. When it turned out that we didn’t even know them, we were able to go.”
Vladimir Sajn, president of the Slovenian referees association, called the incident a “set of unfortunate circumstances” and a “stain” on Vincic’s reputation. Within a year all was forgotten, though, as he refereed Arsenal’s draw with Villarreal in the second leg of a Europa League semi-final and was the fourth official for the final, which Manchester United lost on penalties to the Spanish side.
Vincic then took charge of three matches at that summer’s European Championship, including eventual winners Italy’s 2-1 victory over Belgium in the quarter-finals. He was being trusted with more high-profile fixtures in the club game, too, and in 2022 refereed the Europa League final between Scotland’s Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt of Germany.
In the fourth minute of that game, Rangers midfielder John Lundstram challenged for the ball and accidentally kicked opponent Sebastian Rode in the forehead. Rode started bleeding and required a long spell of medical treatment before play resumed and he continued with a bandage wrapped around his head. Vincic did not card Lundstram and was not told to review the incident by the VAR.
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Oliver Glasner, the current Crystal Palace head coach who managed Frankfurt at the time, was less than impressed.
A few months later, Vincic felt the wrath of Barcelona’s then-head coach Xavi. In the 67th minute of a Champions League group game against Inter Milan at San Siro, Pedri had a goal disallowed after Ansu Fati appeared to touch the ball with his hand in the build-up. Xavi was booked for protesting the decision. Then, in the final minute of normal time, Inter full-back Denzel Dumfries handled the ball inside his own box but no penalty was given despite a VAR check.
Barcelona lost 1-0 and went on to finish third in their group, three points behind Inter who qualified for the knockout stage at their expense.
“Today I’m really unhappy — I feel there is real injustice,” Xavi said. “The referee should be out here explaining why he makes these decisions, if he made mistakes or not. That would humanise them a lot more.”
Xavi’s complaints did not prevent Vincic from working at the World Cup in Qatar the following month. He refereed Saudi Arabia’s shock 2-1 win in the group stage over eventual winners Argentina, as well as England’s 3-0 win over Wales.
He has refereed six Champions League matches already this season, including the quarter-final second leg between Dortmund and Atletico Madrid last month, and will take charge of matches at this summer’s European Championship.
Vincic is only the second Slovenian referee to take charge of a Champions League final after Damir Skomina — a colleague for that 2017 Europa League final — officiated Liverpool’s victory over Tottenham Hotspur five years ago.
Is it just a coincidence that Skomina and Vincic have been granted these opportunities since Aleksander Ceferin, a former president of the Football Association of Slovenia, was elected as UEFA president in 2016? Clearly, this is a golden age for officiating in that corner of southern central Europe.
If Vincic puts in an error-free performance at Wembley tonight, his chances of officiating some of the biggest games at the upcoming Euros too will surely increase.
(Top photo: Alex Gottschalk/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)