Slavko Vincic To Handle Real Madrid Vs Borussia Dortmund Champions League Finals

UEFA have confirmed the match official for the 2023/24 Champions League Final  between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium on 1 June with Slovenia’s Slavko Vincic being assigned the responsibility to officiate the game.

This continues a good run for Slovenian referees in major European games as the 44-year-old Vinčić was also at the helm of affairs at the 2022 Europa League final when Eintracht Frankfurt beat Rangers.

The Europa League final was the highest-profile appointment of his career.

The Slovanian is one of UEFA’s most experienced match officials who also covered games at high profile competitions such as the Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar where he oversaw the Argentina-Saudi Arabia and England-Wales group stage games.

This will be the fourth UEFA final handled by a Slovenian referee since Damir Skomina was picked for the 2017 Europa League title game. Dutch referees are next best with three men’s finals in that time.

Vinčić has handled five Champions League games this season without awarding a penalty kick or showing a red card. Among his games was Dortmund’s 4-2 win over Atletico Madrid in the second leg of the quarterfinals.

He also refereed two games at the 2022 World Cup, including eventual winner Argentina’s 2-1 loss in its opening match against Saudi Arabia.

Vincic is also a highly experienced Champions League referee, having run the rule over 30 tournament games since his debut in December 2016. The 44-year-old has refereed six knockout matches in Europe’s top men’s club competition this season alone including Atlético Madrid’s defeat to Dortmund and Bayern’s win over Lazio in the Round of 16.

He has also officiated 13 games in the Slovenian top flight and is on the list of officials for the forthcoming European Chmpionships which commence next month in Germany.

For the Wembley final will be assisted by compatriots Tomaž Klančnik and Andraž Kovačič with the fourth official, François Letexier hailing from France. 

The VAR role has been assigned to Nejc Kajtazović, and he will be aided by Rade Obrenović and Massimiliano Irrati.

UEFA Champions League: Wembley final officiating team

Referee: Slavko Vinčić (Slovenia)
Assistants: Tomaž Klančnik & Andraž Kovačič (Slovenia)
Fourth Official: François Letexier (France)
Reserve AR: Cyril Mugnier (France)
VAR: Nejc Kajtazović (Slovenia)
Assistant VAR: Rade Obrenović (Slovenia)
VAR Support: Massimiliano Irrati (Italy)

UEFA has also picked English referee Rebecca Welch for the Women’s Champions League final, István Kovács of Romania for the Europa League final and Artur Soares Dias of Portugal for the Europa Conference League final.