FIFA has decided not to take disciplinary action against a VAR official who was seen on live television appearing to make a hand sign that has been linked to white supremacist groups during Germany’s opening World Cup match against Curaçao on Sunday.
The official, Australian support video assistant referee Shaun Evans, was working from the tournament’s broadcast hub in Dallas when the pre-match feed showed him making what appeared to be an “OK” hand gesture with his right hand near his leg.
Because that gesture has been listed by the Anti-Defamation League as a hate symbol since 2019, after its adoption by white supremacist groups, the clip quickly drew criticism online and prompted FIFA to review the incident.
FIFA’s independent Disciplinary Committee later said it had not identified any violation of its rules.
“FIFA’s independent Disciplinary Committee can confirm that, after looking into the matter involving support video assistant referee Shaun Evans, it has found no evidence of breaches of the FIFA Disciplinary Code,” the governing body said in a statement.
Evans also responded, strongly rejecting the suggestion that the gesture was deliberate.
“I would like to clarify that I did not intentionally make a hand gesture or symbol to communicate a message, affiliation, game or belief of any kind,” he said. “The only explanation I can offer is that the movement was an involuntary, subconscious twitch and I was unaware I had done it at the time. Images taken later during the match showed that I repeated this movement many times while holding a pen between my fingers.”
FIFA said his explanation was considered as part of the process before a conclusion was reached.
The gesture has a long and disputed history. While it has traditionally been used as a harmless “OK” sign, it was deliberately co-opted online in the mid-2010s as a white supremacist symbol and later drew wider attention after being used by the Christchurch mosque shooter in New Zealand during his first court appearance in 2019.
Experts and anti-discrimination groups have repeatedly warned that the meaning of the sign depends heavily on context, intent and audience, and that it can be used either innocently or as a hateful signal.
In his statement, Evans said he understood why people reacted strongly, while again denying any intentional wrongdoing.
“Of course, I understand how the gesture has been interpreted and I regret this, however I want to be very clear and categorically say that I did not knowingly or deliberately make the hand symbol suggested,” he said. “
Officiating at the World Cup is the biggest honour of my career and I look forward to supporting my colleagues for the rest of the tournament.”
Evans is among the video officials selected by FIFA for the competition, which is being staged across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The episode comes as FIFA continues to face scrutiny over how it handles discrimination in football, with the organisation and its partners repeatedly urging officials, players and fans to report abusive or hateful behaviour immediately.
The connection between the “OK” hand sign and extremist ideology did not emerge naturally. It was intentionally pushed roughly a decade ago as a white supremacist signal, beginning as a hoax on the far-right message board 4chan before becoming more widely recognised.
The sign came under greater global scrutiny in March 2019, when it was used during the first court appearance of the man responsible for the Christchurch mosque attacks in New Zealand, where 51 Muslim worshippers were murdered.
Later that year, the ADL officially added it to its list of hate symbols. Even so, Oren Segal, director of the organisation’s Centre on Extremism, stressed that context is crucial when assessing what the gesture means in any given situation.
In his statement, Evans said he understood why people reacted strongly, while again denying any intentional wrongdoing.
“Of course, I understand how the gesture has been interpreted and I regret this, however I want to be very clear and categorically say that I did not knowingly or deliberately make the hand symbol suggested,” he said. “
Officiating at the World Cup is the biggest honour of my career and I look forward to supporting my colleagues for the rest of the tournament.”
Evans is among 30 video review analysts selected by FIFA for the competition, which is being staged across the United States, Canada and Mexico.