WASHINGTON : The controversy emerged ahead of Germany’s opening World Cup match against Curacao on Sunday when the official broadcast briefly showed the team of video review analysts working from FIFA’s World Cup broadcast centre in Dallas.
During the broadcast, Australian VAR official Shaun Evans was seen making an “OK” hand gesture with his right hand positioned in front of his leg. While the match was being played in Houston, all video review operations for the tournament are being conducted remotely from Dallas.
The incident quickly drew criticism from the Fare network, FIFA’s long-time partner in monitoring racism and discrimination in football. In a statement, Fare said the gesture closely resembled an upside-down “OK” symbol that has been adopted by far-right and white supremacist groups in several countries.
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“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.
The organisation further described the gesture as “neo-Nazi” in nature and urged FIFA to remove Evans from any further involvement in the World Cup.
“Clearly this official should have no further role to play in this World Cup,” the statement added.
The hand gesture, formed by touching the thumb and forefinger to create a circle while extending the remaining fingers, was designated a hate symbol by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in 2019 after being adopted by extremist groups.
However, the context of Evans’ action remains unclear. It has not been determined whether the gesture was intended as a political statement or was instead related to the “circle game” prank, a popular joke in which participants flash an upside-down OK sign below the waist and challenge others not to look at it.
As of now, neither Evans nor football authorities in Australia have publicly commented on the incident.
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