Australian VAR official Shaun Evans is at the centre of a growing controversy after making a hand gesture during pre-match coverage of Germany’s 7-1 win over Curacao on Sunday.
Fifa has been incorporating brief shots of match officials into its global world feed coverage ahead of each World Cup fixture, allowing audiences to see the referee team and VAR hub staff.
As part of this routine, the referee and his team have walked to the touchline while a graphic displays their names and roles for viewers worldwide.
The coverage has then cut to the VAR hub in Dallas, where officials have been briefly posing for the camera with their names displayed on screen.
During Sunday’s broadcast, Evans was standing with his arm by his side before making the fingers of his right hand into an upside-down OK sign.
That particular gesture carries two very distinct meanings, one entirely harmless and the other connected to expressions of white supremacy within far-right circles.
The moment immediately triggered widespread speculation across social media platforms, with users debating the intent behind the gesture.
BBC Sport approached Fifa multiple times for comment but received no official response, though sources confirmed the governing body is seeking answers from Evans directly.
The anti-discrimination Fare network, which partners with both Fifa and Uefa on tackling racism, also confirmed it was seeking clarification over the incident.
“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 upside-down OK sign is also associated with the circle game, a prank that rose to prominence through the US sitcom Malcolm in the Middle before becoming a widespread internet meme.
In that context, if another person looks at the hand gesture being made below the waist, they receive a punch to the shoulder as a playful forfeit.
However, in 2017 the sign was adopted by the far right as a means of communicating with one another, and the Anti-Defamation League added it to its official list of hate symbols in 2019.
The ADL describes the OK symbol as having become a “popular trolling tactic” from “right-leaning individuals, who often post photos to social media of themselves posing while making the gesture.”
Following the incident, there was a noticeable and immediate change to how the VAR hub was presented in subsequent matches, with officials shown already facing their monitors rather than posing for the camera.
Fifa has offered no explanation for the change in approach, and their names continue to appear on screen despite the altered camera presentation.
Evans, who is 38 years old, has been on the Fifa referees list since 2017 and served as a VAR official at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
He has been a referee in the Australian A-League since 2012 and took charge of the prestigious Grand Final back in 2019, underlining his standing as one of Australia’s most experienced officials.
