Slavko Vincic retires after officiating World Cup final: Fans suspect something 'fishy'

The Slovenian referee, Slavko Vincic, who officiated the final match between Argentina and Spain and became the first official to send off an Argentina player with a red card in the 2026 edition of the tournament, has announced his retirement just one week after officiating the biggest match in football.

The Slovenian Football Association described it as the perfect ending to a historic career and praised Vinčić as one of the world's finest referees. The association added that he was leaving at the very top.

Now a strange new conspiracy theory appeared on social media, which claimed that referee Slavko Vincic suddenly retired because of the red card he gave to Enzo Fernández.

Many fans did not accept the reasons given by the Slovenian Football Association for why Vincic chose to retire from refereeing. Within hours of the announcement that Vincic would be retiring, social media began filling up with messages suggesting something was wrong about the timing of his retirement.

The Touchline

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One popular post sarcastically noted that Vincic became the first referee to ever show a red card to an Argentine player prior to him announcing that he would be retiring from refereeing days later and that "there is nothing suspicious here."

Others also believed that the timing of the now-former referee’s retirement was suspicious and that he may have received pressure after showing Enzo Fernandez a red card during the final.

Many fans took to social media creating humorous memes depicting Vincic as a referee who saved football before departing, while others jokingly referred to "the boss calling" (FIFA president Gianni Infantino).