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Eintracht Frankfurt vs Rangers: who is Europa League final referee Slavko Vincic?

The 42-year-old Slovenian is to take charge of Wednesday’s Europa League final at Seville’s Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán.

Angel Martinez - UEFAGetty

Referee Slavko Vincic will take charge of Wednesday’s UEFA Europa League final between Eintracht Frankfurt and Rangers, in what is the Slovenian’s first appointment to the showpiece game of a major European club competition.

Vincic’s first Europa League game this season

Added to FIFA’s list of international referees in 2010, the 42-year-old has refereed 20 games in the Europa League since making his debut in the continent’s second-tier club tournament in 2014. His previous biggest Europa League assignment was the first leg of Arsenal and Villarreal’s semi-final tie in 2020/21.

This year’s final in Seville will be Vincic’s first Europa League game of 2021/22; his European attentions have so far been focused exclusively on the Champions League, in which he has refereed eight matches this season.

These included three knockout-stage games, the most significant of which again featured Villarreal. Vincic was the man in the middle in Munich for the second leg of the Spaniards’ surprise quarter-final win over Bundesliga giants Bayern.

He has never previously refereed a European match involving either Eintracht Frankfurt or Rangers.

Referee Slavko Vincic (left) during a pre-match training session at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán.Angel Martinez - UEFAGetty

Vincic a referee at Euro 2020

In international football, Vincic was among the referees at last summer’s 2020 European Championship, taking charge of three games, including the big-name quarter-final clash between Belgium and Italy.

Vincic’s refereeing experience beyond the borders of Slovenia also includes three Saudi Professional League fixtures, and a Saudi King’s Cup semi-final.

In 2020, he made the news for matters off the pitch when he was arrested on suspicion of being linked to a prostitution, drug and illegal firearms racket. However, he was released without charge after being cleared of any wrongdoing.

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