FIFA’s discrimination monitor at the World Cup has called for the removal of a video assistant referee (VAR) after he appeared to make a hand gesture resembling a symbol associated with white supremacy.
During the official broadcast of Germany’s opening match against Curaçao on Sunday, cameras showed the team of VAR officials before kick-off.
Shaun Evans of Australia was seen making an “OK” hand sign with his right hand positioned in front of his leg. Although the match was played in Houston, VAR officials were working from FIFA’s World Cup broadcast centre in Dallas.
The gesture, in which the thumb and forefinger form a circle while the remaining fingers are extended, was added to the Anti-Defamation League’s list of hate symbols in 2019 after being adopted by some far-right groups.
In a statement, the Fare network, a long-time partner of FIFA and UEFA in monitoring racism and discrimination at football matches, said experts believed the gesture closely resembled an upside-down “OK” sign used as a white power symbol in extremist circles.
“Advice from our experts is that the gesture used clearly resembles an upside down ‘OK’ hand symbol used as a ‘white power’ symbol in global far-right circles,” the organisation said.
Fare added that the official should play no further role at the tournament and described the gesture as having neo-Nazi associations.
FIFA was asked to comment on the matter. Football Australia and the Professional Football Referees Association were also contacted for responses.
It remains unclear whether Evans was making a political statement or participating in what is commonly known as the “circle game,” a prank in which a person displays an upside-down OK sign below the waist and playfully challenges others not to look at it.
The gesture was later appropriated by far-right online groups, beginning as a hoax on the message board 4chan before being adopted by some white supremacist movements.
When the Anti-Defamation League classified the symbol as a hate sign in 2019, its Centre on Extremism director, Oren Segal, stressed that context remained crucial in determining whether its use was harmless or hateful.
“There is enough of a volume of use for hateful purposes that we felt it was important to add,” Segal said at the time.
Evans is one of 30 VAR officials selected by FIFA to officiate at the World Cup being hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Fare also questioned why a VAR supervisor would make such a gesture while aware that television cameras were focused on him, noting that broadcasters appeared to stop introducing VAR teams on air during subsequent matches.
