Infantino was being heavily questioned by the European federations and would have yielded to Aleksander Čeferin, accepting that the final would be in the hands of a Slovenian officiating team
To complete the siege, the VAR was occupied by the German Bastian Dankert —representative of a historic rival of Argentina— and the Colombian Nicolás Gallo as AVAR, whose federation maintains a recent rivalry after the last Copa América.
The politics of international football is going through its most critical moment after the final held this Sunday. What should have been a celebration of sport was overshadowed by a power struggle in the upper echelons: Gianni Infantino was being heavily questioned by European federations and threatened with being removed as president of the FIFA.
The European discontent, fueled by previous decisions such as the annulment of the suspension of Folarin Balogun, led UEFA to draw a "dangerous line" regarding the independence of FIFA.
Amid this power struggle, and with the real possibility that UEFA would move to remove him from the presidency if Argentina won again, Infantino reportedly yielded to Aleksander Čeferin, president of UEFA.
To prevent a new crowning of Lionel Messi from being used against him, the Swiss official reportedly accepted that the World Cup final be officiated by a completely Slovenian refereeing team: Slavko Vinčić as the main referee and Tomaž Klančnik and Andraž Kovačič as assistant referees.
The scandal is enormous considering that the three officials are countrymen of the UEFA president, the organization leading the offensive against Infantino. This evident institutional pressure translated into an appointment that left Argentina at the mercy of a refereeing team with interests aligned with European power.
The choice of Slavko Vinčić does not withstand the slightest ethical or statistical analysis:
Criminal record: In 2020, he was arrested during a police raid linked to a network of prostitution, drugs, and weapons in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he even attempted to escape on a boat.
Directed statistics: Spain had never lost a match with him, remaining 6 matches unbeaten after the final. In contrast, Argentina's only two World Cup defeats under Scaloni (against Saudi Arabia in 2022 and Spain in 2026) were under his officiating.
The development of the match reflected this institutional maneuver. While Enzo Fernández was conditioned and ultimately sent off with a second yellow that began with an outrageous sanction for protesting, the severity was not the same for the opponent. Spain committed 16 fouls and received no yellow cards throughout the match.
Even the use of technology was selective: neither Slavko Vinčić nor the VAR decided to analyze an action in which Marc Cucurella covered his mouth to confront Messi, ignoring the Argentine captain's complaint.
This bias occurred while an international coordinated campaign was underway to discredit the National Team, with figures like Samuel L. Jackson labeling the country as “one of the most racist countries in the world”.
While the external factor was decisive, the Argentine National Team played a terrible and unrecognizable match, failing to shoot on goal in the first half. Decisions such as the absence of Lautaro Martínez —the team's second top scorer— or Simeone's mistake on Ferran Torres's goal added to the confusion of a fateful afternoon.
The only bright spots were the Maradonian effort of Nicolás Tagliafico and the historic performance of Emiliano "Dibu" Martínez, who with 11 saves (a record in finals since 1966) prevented a greater catastrophe.
This final of 2026 joins those of 1990 and 2014 as a monument to injustice. FIFA must be held accountable for why it allowed the survival of Infantino to come at the expense of the Argentine National Team, handing over sporting glory to the interests of the bureaucratic caste of UEFA.
