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John Jones

Who is Wales v England referee Slavko Vincic, the man arrested in bizarre circumstances

Wales take on England in a must-win game as Rob Page's side fight for their World Cup survival.

The clash takes place at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al-Rayyan and will kick-off at 7pm on Tuesday, November 29.

Here, we take you through the referee and officials who will be in charge of the match.

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Who is the referee for Wales v England?

Slavko Vincic of Slovenia will be the man in the middle for Wales' must-win game against England.

The 43-year-old has been an international listed referee for FIFA since 2010, having turned professional three years earlier and making his debut in the Slovenian PrvalLiga.

As well as taking charge of games in the Slovenian top flight, he has also regularly officiated in the Champions League and Europa League. He was the referee for this year's Europa League final between Eintracht Frankfurt and Rangers, while he was also in the middle for the 2020/21 semi-final between Arsenal and Villarreal as well as the Champions League quarter-final between Porto and Chelsea in the same season.

On the international stage, Vincic refereed two group stage matches at Euro 2020 as well as the exhilarating quarter-final clash between Belgium and eventual champions Italy. He was also included in the Slovenian officiating team at Euro 2012 as an unused additional assistant.

A year before the delayed European Championships, however, the referee was mistakenly arrested at a lunch as part of a police probe into a prostitution and drugs ring in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was defended by the Slovenian FA, who said he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and he was soon cleared of any wrongdoing and released without charge.

Speaking about the incident in a later interview, Vincic said: "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. They took us to the police, asked as witnesses, and when it turned out that we didn't even know them, we were able to go."

Vincic has already taken charge of one game at the World Cup in Qatar, overseeing Saudi Arabia's historic win over Argentina. He was criticised after awarding Argentina a 'soft' early penalty, converted by Lionel Messi, with the Slovenian referee decided to award the spot kick after consulting VAR.

This wasn't the first time that he had received criticism for a decision in an international, with former Northern Ireland manager Ian Baraclough left "annoyed and appalled" after Vincic issued left back Jamal Lewis with a second yellow card for taking 17 seconds to take a throw-in during a World Cup qualifying game against Switzerland in 2020. Vincic had not warned the player and seemingly forgot that he had already booked him earlier in the game, but the red card changed the nature of the game, with Switzerland running out 2-0 winners and putting a major dent in Northern Ireland's World Cup hopes.

Who are the assistant referees for Wales v England?

Vincic will be joined on the field by compatriots Tomaz Klancnik and Andraz Kovacic, with the Slovenian duo named as his assistants for a second consecutive game.

Mexico's Karen Díaz, one of six female officials chosen for the tournament, is named as the reserve assistant referee after making history with her selection in the same role for the goalless draw between Morocco and Croatia, as well as Portugal's 3-2 win over Ghana in the first round of games.

Wales v England referee, assistant and VAR list in full

Referee: Slavko Vincic (SVN)

Assistant Referee 1: Tomaz Klancnik (SVN)

Assistant Referee 2: Andraz Kovacic (SVN)

Fourth Official: Yoshimi Yamashiots (JPN)

Reserve Assistant Referee: Karen Diaz Medina (MEX)

Video Assistant Referee: Marco Fritz (GER)

Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Paolo Valeri (ITA)

Offside Video Assistant Referee: Pawel Sokolnicki (POL)

Support Video Assistant Referee: Bastian Dankert (GER)

Standby Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Vasile Marinescu (ROU)

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