World Cup final referee who cried when he was chosen was once arrested at 'sex party'
Britt Jones
Featured Image Credit: Stu Forster/Getty Images
The World Cup final referee Slavko Vincic was once apprehended at a 'sex party', and the story is wild.
The Slovenian official has been hand-picked to manage and enforce the soccer rules between Spain and Argentina, and in a video posted online which showed him receiving the news – the ref can be seen welling up over the honor.
Vincic hasn't officiated many Albiceleste games in his career, but the biggest one was back in 2022 during the Qatar World Cup 2022.
Held in the Lusail stadium in Qatar, Argentina was busy taking on Saudi Arabia on November 22.
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It was there that he gave Argentina a penalty in the 8th minute, which Messi ended up converting.
But while he gave six yellow cards to Saudi Arabian players, Saudi Arabia turned the game around in the second half to win the match 2-1.
The moment Pierluigi Collina, FIFA’s Chief Refereeing Officer, announced the referees for the @FIFAWorldCup Final and Bronze Final 🙌 pic.twitter.com/5wS5JHmAi9
— FIFA (@FIFAcom) July 18, 2026
That right there was the only time Messi lost a match when Vincic was leading the charge.
We don't know what tomorrow will bring, however, back in 2020, something happened which could have seen himself totally out of the running to regulate this historic game.
In May 2020, the Slovenian found himself on the rough end of a drugs and prostitution raid at a 'business lunch' in Bijelina, Bosnia.
According to Yahoo!, police seized cocaine, 10 pistols, over £8,000 and three protective vests, and pulled Vincic in for questioning to figure out why he was there.
Per the ref, he was at the wrong place at the wrong time after going on a business meeting there, reports The Sun.
The referee was later released as he was found to have been not affiliated with the gang of people dealing out crime, but it was an experience.
Vincic told Slovenian media: “I found myself on this ranch by chance. I have my own company, I was in Bosnia and Herzegovina for a business meeting.
“I 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 [us] as witnesses, when it turned out that we didn’t even know them, we were able to go.”
The 46-year-old from Maribor, Slovenia, has since carried on with his duties as normal, and was told of the achievement by Pierluigi Collina, FIFA Chief Refereeing Officer and Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, per FIFA.
To him, it came as a huge surprise.
“So, first of all, a shock. Then happiness. I was shaking, so it’s an incredible honour to get the (FIFA) World Cup final,” he said. “It’s something that… it’s only a dream for a referee, for a young referee when they start. So, I’m very proud, very proud of myself, my team.“
This makes Vinčić the 23rd person to referee a FIFA World Cup final, and the first to be from Slovenia.
“First of all, it’s very difficult to put everything into words, but I’m very proud to represent my country, Slovenia, in the biggest sporting event in the world,” he said. “So, yeah, I’m very proud. My team is very proud and we will do our best.”