Fifa's discrimination monitor at the World Cup has called for a video assistant referee (VAR) to be removed after he appeared to make a hand gesture resembling a white supremacist symbol. During the official broadcast of Germany's opening match against Curaçao on Sunday, the pre-game segment showed the team of VAR officials, including Shaun Evans from Australia. Evans made an "OK" symbol with his right hand in front of his right leg. Although the game was played in Houston, VAR officials operate from the World Cup broadcast centre in Dallas.
Gesture Designated as Hate Symbol
In 2019, the gesture—where the thumb and forefinger touch to form a circle while other fingers are outstretched—was classified as a hate symbol by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The Fare network, a longtime partner of Fifa and Uefa in monitoring racist and discriminatory behaviour at international matches, issued a statement condemning the act. "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," Fare said. "Clearly this official should have no further role to play in this World Cup," the statement added, describing the gesture as "neo-Nazi."
Context and Controversy
Fifa was contacted for comment, as were the Professional Football Referees Association and Football Australia. It remains unclear whether Evans, working his first World Cup game, intended a political gesture or was playing a children's prank known as the "gotcha" or "circle game." This prank involves flashing an upside-down OK sign below the waist and punching anyone who looks at it. The gesture was appropriated about a decade ago as a white supremacy signal, initially as a hoax on the far-right online forum 4chan.
In 2019, when the ADL added the symbol to its hate list, Oren Segal, director of the ADL's Centre on Extremism, emphasised that context is crucial in interpreting whether the "OK" sign is hateful or harmless. "There is enough of a volume of use for hateful purposes that we felt it was important to add," he said at the time.
Ongoing Concerns
Evans is among 30 VAR officials selected by Fifa for the World Cup, which is being held across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Fare questioned the timing of the gesture, noting, "Why is a VAR supervisor using this symbol at a global football event at the very moment he knows the cameras are on him?" The organisation also observed that in subsequent games, television directors have stopped introducing the VAR panel to the audience.
