World Cup official cleared by Fifa and says gesture was ‘subconscious twitch’

Fifa’s disciplinary committee has cleared the World Cup video assistant referee Shaun Evans after he was accused of making a hand gesture associated with white supremacists.

An investigation found no evidence that the Australian had breached Fifa’s ethics code and he issued a statement on Monday night claiming he had been unaware of making the controversial hand sign.

In a pre-recorded video showing the team of VAR officials working on Germany’s 7-1 win against Curaçao on Sunday, Evans was shown making an “OK” symbol by curling his thumb and forefinger in front of his right leg, a gesture which in 2019 was designated a hate symbol by the New York‑based Anti-Defamation League.

Evans was accused of making a racist symbol by observers online, and the anti-discrimination group Fare called for him to be removed from the World Cup. Evans kept his counsel until being cleared by Fifa.

“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,” its statement read. “The disciplinary committee has also taken note of Mr Evans’ statement.”

Evans insisted he had not deliberately made any gesture and that he was unaware of the furore caused until after the game.

“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,” Evans said in a statement. “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.

“The coverage following this incident simply does not reflect who I am. 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.

“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.”

Fare, the anti-discrimination group that partners with Fifa and Uefa to police crowd and player behaviour at their games, had called on Evans to be suspended for the tournament.

“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 in a statement. “Clearly this official should have no further role to play in this World Cup.,

“Why is a VAR supervisor using this symbol at a global football event at the very moment he knows the cameras are on him? We note that in the two subsequent games it appears TV directors have stopped introducing the VAR panel to the audience.”