Who is Slavko Vincic, the referee for the Borussia Dortmund - Real Madrid Champions League final?

Slovenia’s Slavko Vincic will be the match referee at Wembley today, as Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid face off in the final of the 2023/24 Champions League. UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, confirmed the 44-year-old’s appointment earlier in May, making him the second Slovenian referee to be given the showpiece event after Damir Skomina in 2019.

“When I received the news, it was a very emotional moment and I am still feeling these big emotions as I talk about it, it’s a very difficult thing to describe,” Vincic told an interview with UEFA.com this week, as he prepares for the biggest assignment of his nearly two-decade professional career. “I’m proud for myself and my team because we work very hard together. If I am honest, when I started refereeing I am not sure my dreams went so far as the Champions League final, so it’s really a big thing.”

How long has Vincic been a UCL referee?

Vincic, who made his debut in Slovenia’s first division in 2007, is now an experienced Champions League referee. In Europe’s top men’s club competition, he has run the rule over 30 games since his tournament bow in 2016, including eight knockout-stage matches. Most recently, he refereed Dortmund’s tie-clinching second-leg win over Atlético Madrid in this season’s quarter-finals.

That’s one of two occasions on which Vincic has taken charge of European games involving Dortmund. The Slovenian was also the man in the middle for the Germans’ 2-1 defeat to RB Salzburg in the Europa League in 2017/18, in the first leg of the last 16. Refereeing Madrid, meanwhile, will be uncharted territory for Vincic: in 14 continental games involving Spanish clubs, he has never crossed paths with Los Blancos.

UEL final ref in 2022, set for Euro 2024

Before being handed this weekend’s Champions League final, the highest-profile appointment of Vincic’s career had come in the Europa League. In May 2022, the Maribor native oversaw the final of the continent’s second-tier club tournament, as Eintracht Frankfurt defeated Rangers on penalties in Seville.

In international soccer, Vincic was a referee at Euro 2020 and World Cup 2022, and has been included among the team of 18 whistlers who are to take charge of games at Euro 2024 in Germany this summer.

Full screen

Borussia Dortmund vs Real Madrid: start time, how to watch

Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid meet in the Champions League final at Wembley Stadium, London, on Saturday 1 June 2024. Kick-off is scheduled for 8pm local time, which in the US translates to a 3pm ET/12 noon PT start. Viewers in the States can watch the game on CBS, Univisión, TUDN USA, Paramount+ and ViX. Your streaming options also include fuboTV, which offers new users a free trial.

Enjoy the Champions League final on fubo.

Borussia Dortmund vs Real Madrid: live AS USA coverage

You’ll also have the option of following AS USA’s live-text coverage of the Champions League final. Joe Brennan will be providing you with minute-by-minute commentary of the game in the UK capital, where Madrid will be chasing a record-extending 15th European title. Meanwhile, 1997 winners Dortmund will be bidding to secure the second continental crown in their history.

Who will Vincic’s assistants be? Who will the UCL final VAR be?

Vincic will be heading up a multinational team of officials at Wembley. Compatriots Tomaz Klancnik and Andraz Kovacic will be his assistant referees, and the fourth official will be France’s François Letexier. The video assistant referee (VAR) will be Slovenia’s Nejc Kajtazovic, and the assistant VAR will be his countryman Rade Obrenovic. The VAR support will be Italy’s Massimiliano Irrati.